Soulfire Rangers
by Knightwood
Summary: Tommy and Kira once again find themselves thrown back into the mix, mentoring a new team of VERY different teenagers.
1. A New Beginning, Part One

I suppose it could be considered Kirommy, since that's who's going to mentor this Ranger team, But I thought I'd try my own original team this time around. Any and all comments are welcomed, even constructive criticism. Time for the usual stuff.

**Legal: **I do not own Power Rangers or the associated names, characters, events etc. Any names, characters, events that are not covered by the rights mentioned above are to be considered purely the creation of the author. The poem recited by Colin in this chapter is attributed to poet Robert Burns.

**Rating: **T – mild language, themes and violence. Some references to adult material such as drug use, though references will be mild.

**Timeline:** This story will be written in the same cannon as my other Kirommy fics. It's not necessary for this story, but if you want to check out my previous works for background information I wouldn't object. (Order in timeline, Fateful Homecoming, First Christmas, Race to the Aisle, Baby Blues and Baby Proofing.)

**New Beginning: Part One**

Inspecting some artefacts in the ancient, Incan ruins he was excavating deep in South America, Anton Mercer was interrupted as one of his interns brought him a long, bright red crytsal and a stone plaque.

"Dr. Mercer look at what I found in the burial chamber." He began, placing them down carefully on a wooden table. "The tablet refers to an ancient legend. The legend of the Soul Fire Warriors!"

Inspecting the tablet, Anton became intrigued.

"Legend has it that some day this crystal will unite with the most powerful good souls on earth, who's soul fire will ascend in the planet's time of need to light our darkest day."

"An intriguing legend." Anton told his intern. "Thank you for bringing this to me. I know someone who might want to look at this."

As the intern left, Anton pulled out his cell phone and hit the speed dial of the one number he never would have foreseen calling again.

"Tommy, it's Anton." He began. "Listen I've found something and I'm going to Fed-Ex it to you. I believe it's more your area of expertise than mine." Pausing as the man on the other end responded, he looked to make sure no-one was listening. "No not dinosaurs. Your OTHER area of expertise."

Charisma groaned loudly, as she turned over in her bed, mashing her hand down on the alarm clock that was wrenching her from her sleep. She still couldn't believe her dad had insisted on moving to Vegas' artificial neon hell and taking her away from all her friends back in Detroit. She still hadn't deigned to speak to him since he made the announcement the previous week, and she wasn't planning on forgiving him anytime soon.

She was about 5'6" tall, with an athletic build acquired through her years training in Jiu Jitsu back in Detroit, yet another reason she hated having to move, as it meant she couldn't attend those lessons anymore. Shoulder-length brunette hair with blonde streaks dyed through it cascaded in all directions as she rubbed open her dark brown eyes. The most striking thing about her was the sleeve tattoo which ran the entire length of her left arm. A Chinese style dragon which snaked it's way around her arm, interspersed with pink Lillis, finishing at the wrist with a band of Chinese characters running around the circumference of her wrist. Her Uncle had given her the tattoo a couple of months ago, and while not strictly done legally, the design had meant the world to her, and so he agreed to do it.

After a quick shower, she began looking out an outfit for her first day in the new academic prison her father had chosen as the best place for her to finish her education. She had never really liked school back home, but at least she could tolerate it because of her friends. She wasn't really holding out much hope of finding a group she could be similarly close to here, she wasn't exactly a normal teenager in her outlook on life, and spending her childhood growing up in the murder capital of the United States, she had grown to be fiercely independent and assertive to the point of outright hostility, meaning it was sometimes hard for her to let anyone into her life and make friends.

Pulling on a sleeveless, graffiti art t-shirt depicting her favourite punk band and a pair of baggy black bondage pants, she sorted out her hair as much as she could be bothered to. Her dad had told her to make an effort to make a good impression on her first day, but she never usually listened to him anyway, and she didn't plan on starting today. She figured she was only here for her final year, and it didn't really make any difference to her whether or not the usual cliques liked her. Applying her heavy eye makeup and checking her appearance in the mirror, she completed the look as she had done every day for the past three years by taking a thick marker pen and drawing a large black X across the back of her left hand.

Heading downstairs and grabbing her backpack and wallet, she took the opportunity before her dad finished washing up to leave the apartment and spare herself the inevitable screaming match that generally started most mornings these days. She could really live without another one of those today, she just didn't have the energy for it right now. She couldn't get over the feeling that this was going to be a very long year.

Colin was wakened by his uncle early in the morning. He hadn't wanted to come to Vegas for his final year at school, but his parents had sent him to live with his uncle to escape the trouble he was getting into back home in Glasgow. They knew that he needed a fresh start, and to get away from his past. He wasn't a bad person, he just had a habit of talking his way into trouble. He'd always had a smart mouth on him, and just seemed unable to find the 'off' switch at times.

He wasn't an especially tall guy, only around 5'9" or so, and he'd already found 6' plus people to grow on trees over here, which he found slightly intimidating as he'd been used to being about average back home.. He was quite broad and relatively muscular. Thick, brown hair that was just a little too long and occasionally would fall into his face topped his head, concealing slightly his bright, green eyes. Pulling on his jeans and a plain, grey t-shirt, he checked himself in the mirror, stroking a hand across his chin and figuring that this was yet another day he did not need to shave. Making his way down from the apartment, he found his uncle in the old theatre he owned rehearsing "Past the Point of no Return" from phantom of the opera, preparing for the opening night performance he had optimistically scheduled for the end of that week.

"Don't you need someone to play Christine?" He asked in his thickly accented voice which betrayed his origins in Scotland. "And you're flat on the crescendo by the way."

"Everyone's a critic." His uncle chuckled. "Are you ready for your first day?"

"It's a school Uncle Al." He groaned. "It'll be exactly the same as any other."

"Well just try to make a good impression." Al told him. "You really don't need to get into any more trouble."

"It's not as if I went looking for trouble." Colin protested.

"No, it pretty much knew where you were most of the time." His uncle responded. "Just keep your head down and don't draw attention to yourself."

"I wasn't planning to." Colin answered as he threw on his ankle-length leather trench coat, quickly checking the pocket to make sure his note book was there. It was the only thing that really mattered to him. He'd always been a keen poet and always carried around a note book and pens, just in case the muse descended. Writing was one of the few things that made him happy. "Anyway, I'll see you tonight. If you're doing the shopping, I'm out of vodka." He informed his uncle. Because his birthday was early in the year, he had already turned 18 and had begun drinking back home. His uncle had already explained that the legal age of consumption was 21 here, but Colin just ignored him. He had instead resigned himself to the fact that at least if he drank in the apartment, then he wouldn't get hassle from the local police. Watching his nephew leave the old theatre, his uncle couldn't help but get the feeling that this was going to be a busy year for Colin.

Serendipity raised herself painfully from her bed, cursing once again the juvenile arthritis that had plagued her since her early teens. This wasn't the worst she'd felt, but the stiffness and dull ache still caused her great discomfort. Her back and her hands regularly hurt so bad that she could barely move, and her doctor was loathe to prescribe medication because of her age, a fact which frustrated her even more on some of her worse days.

She was a remarkably tall teenager, around 5'8" with long, flowing blonde hair that she just kind of let do it's own thing most days. Bright hazel eyes shone with an uncharacteristic optimism for a teenager. She was quite skinny, though not unhealthily so. Throwing on a light, airy blouse and a pair of torn jeans, she picked up a denim jacket on which she had dyed a CND symbol across the back. Making her way through to the living room, her mother handed her a mug of tea.

"There you go dear." She greeted her daughter. "Are you looking forward to going back to school?"

"Yeah, I kind of missed it over the summer." She beamed broadly as she thought about it. She was a slightly unusual kid, she didn't really have many friends, and her political views and outspoken habit of taking every opportunity to demonstrate against some injustice or other perpetuated by her own government had often caused her to end up being marginalised by the others. It was her schoolwork she enjoyed though. She was a bright kid, and was usually well ahead of the class. She had actually been skipped forward a year, and so was going to be the youngest person in all her classes at 16 years of age. Yet another reason she wasn't well liked by most of her peers.

"Has Dr. Oliver talked to you about more babysitting?" Her dad asked her.

"He said he'll call when he has some work for me." She replied. "He and Kira are spending a lot of time with the kids, but it's coming up to her birthday soon, so I'm sure they'll probably want another night out in the not too distant future."

Her parents didn't have much in the way of money, but they had enough to get by. Her dad ran an organic fruit shop on the edge of town, while her mother made her own money doing clothing repairs. She'd often thought that the principal, Dr. Oliver had began asking her to do occasional babysitting duties as a kind of charity, though she wasn't too proud to accept it. She loved kids and hoped to become a childminder or teacher herself one day. Making sure her mother wasn't watching, she reached into the tea jar and spooned some of the leaves into a little plastic bag, wrapping it up and shoving it into her pocket.

"I'll see you tonight." She said cheerily, kissing her mother on the cheek and hugging her dad quickly before leaving the house. She couldn't wait to get back to the school, just one more year and she could do anything she wanted. She just got this feeling that this would be a great year.

Colin had arrived in a small bagel shop only a short way from the school, having opted to stop off for his newfound favourite snack. He'd never really been fond of American culture back home, and the past couple of months in Vegas had done little to change his mind on the subject, but since arriving he had acquired a great love for bagels. Accepting his breakfast from the counter assistant, he quickly shoved the small paper bag into the side pocket of his trench coat, as he suddenly got some inspiration from a conversation he overheard between a young mother and her son. Absent-mindedly pulling out his notebook, he began logging his thoughts as he headed out the door, accidentally bumping into someone.

Looking up he noticed the young girl looking back at him more than a little annoyed. Brushing the hair from his eyes, he began to shift awkwardly as he spoke.

"Look, I'm sorry about that." He began. "I was just writing and I guess…"

"Yeah, writing and walking at the same time!" Charisma interrupted him aggressively. "Try watching where you're going in future."

As she brushed past him, storming her way over to the counter, Colin gave a little shrug. "Looks like the weather's warmer than the welcome around here." He commented as he put away his note book and resigned himself to the fact that he probably wouldn't see her again anyway, and didn't really worry too much about the fact that she never allowed him to apologise.

Serendipity arrived at the school early, making her way past the group of jocks outside the gym across the street. Ignoring all the catcalls and taunts they bombarded her with, she made her way inside. Quickly finding her locker, she threw it open, looking out her biology text book. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted as a teenager approached from behind her and addressed her in a thickly accented voice.

"I see you've got biology." Colin remarked, gesturing to the book. "My name's Colin, I just started here. This place is a bit of a maze, can you let me know where period 1 biology is?"

"I'm Serendipity." She introduced herself with a handshake. "I'm just heading there myself. Want to drop your bag off in your locker first?"

"Right, the entry letter Dr. Oliver said I've got…" He rifled through his pockets, finding the letter. "Locker 315."

"Great, that's just on the way." She commented, nodding her head in the direction of the lockers and leading him up the corridor. "I love your accent by the way, where are you from?"

"Glasgow." He replied. "I just got into the country a couple of weeks back."

"Well there's a few jerks here." She commented. "But on the whole most of them are quite nice." She suddenly got stopped in her tracks as she beheld a small commotion in front of them, right by Colin's locker. "Maybe you should just take your bag with you for now."

"I'll be fine." Colin informed her, making his way over.

Charisma was collecting her books from her locker when a tall, muscular teenager approached her and leaned on the locker beside her.

"Hey babe." He greeted her with an artificially white grin. "I haven't seen you around here before. Wanna get a drink sometime and I'll show you the sights?"

Turning to look at him thoughtfully, she took in his appearance and immediately rolled her eyes. "Wrestling or Football?" She asked.

"Huh?" He grunted ignorantly.

"The bleach blonde hair, the expensive orthodontics, the letter man jacket, the 'cool guy' pose." She numbered off his personal features on her fingers. "The fact that you actually think I'm going to fall for probably the lamest come-on in history! You're either the school football star, or the school wrestling star."

"Hey Brad, way to get burned!" One of his friends laughed from across the hall. Brad shot him a cold stare before turning his attention back to Charisma.

"Hey, I'm just trying to be friendly." He told her. "I'm the captain of the wrestling team, I run this school. Being my girl makes being here a pretty easy ride."

"So that I can be the subject of your childish boasting in the communal showers with the other Neanderthals?" She shot back. "Sorry, not interested. Oh, by the way I don't drink." She continued, displaying the X on the back of her left hand. "But even if I did, I'm very choosy about who I spend time with. Trust me blondie, it's not going to happen."

As she made to leave, he slammed his hand into the locker a little way past her head in an attempt to intimidate her. It didn't work, instead Charisma prepared to defend herself before Colin arrived behind Brad, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Excuse me." He addressed the massive Jock. "That's my locker, can I get past please?"

"Beat it paddy!" Brad spat aggressively. "Punky Perkins here and I are talking."

"Firstly, that's just rude." Colin answered. "Secondly, I'm Scottish, not Irish and thirdly, where I come from when a lady tells you to get lost and then prepares to kick your ass up and down the corridor, we take the hint that the conversation's over."

"Are you seriously looking for trouble Mr. Goth reject?" Brad asked him.

"_Oh would God the gift tae gie's,_

_tae see oorsel's as others see's." _Colin replied.

"Back off Sir Galahad." Charisma interjected. "I've got this covered."

"Too late." Brad told him, grabbing his T-shirt and pulling him close. "You've just earned yourself a beating."

Without warning, Colin grabbed Brad's hair and pulled his forehead aggressively into his nose, shattering the cartilage and sending him crashing to the floor, cradling his broken nose. "Where I come from that's called a Glasgow Kiss." He told him.

Charisma leapt forward tackling one of Brad's friends as two of them slammed Colin forcefully into the steel lockers, before throwing him to the ground and beginning to pound on him ferociously. Colin threw fists wildly left and right as he rolled around the floor with his attackers.

Charisma was faring a lot better with her own opponent, throwing him skilfully over her shoulder and dumping him on his head before rushing over and yanking one of Colin's attackers off him, kicking him powerfully across the corridor causing the crowd of students who'd gathered to collapse in all directions. Serendipity landed in a crumpled heap a short distance away as the fight continued. Only the arrival of the wrestling coach caused the chaos to dissipate.

"Break it up!" He roared as he yanked Charisma aside. "What the hell's going on?"

"This guy just broke Brad's nose!" One of the thugs barked.

"What's your name kid?" He asked, drawing himself over to Colin as he stood back up.

"Colin McDougall." He answered.

"Well congratulations Mr. McDougall." He responded sarcastically. "You've probably just set the record for the SHORTEST stay in this school ever!"

As Serendipity and Charisma were about to protest, a man in his early thirties with short, spiky hair and glasses approached them. "Actually I think you'll find I decide who gets expelled Coach Andrews." He stated with authority. "Personally I'd like to hear all sides of the story."

"This kid just broke Brad's nose, and the two of them have roughed up a couple of my kids pretty good." Coach Andrews began. "They should…"

"Like I said, I'd like to hear all sides of the story before making a decision. I believe as Principal that's my job." He interrupted him as he bent down, picking up a small plastic bag containing some finely ground green leaves. Sniffing it, his eyebrows shot up. "Who does this belong to?" He asked. No-one confessed.

"Coach Andrews, take Brad and the others to the school nurse to get his nose looked at. You three." He pointed to Charisma, Colin and Serendipity. "Come with me."

"Yes Dr. Oliver." Serendipity groaned as she collected her belongings.

A short time later, they found themselves sitting in his office as he paced the room.

"We'll get to the issue of the weed in a second." He began. "I'd like to know what happened."

"The big guy grabbed me." Colin told him. "I made him let go."

"The dumb musclehead wouldn't take the hint that I wasn't interested." Charisma interjected. "Then Sir Galahad here takes it on himself to get involved."

"If that's your way of saying 'thank you', then seriously, take some more English classes." Colin replied sarcastically.

"Did I ask for help?" She snapped. "I would have dealt with it myself!"

"Enough!" Tommy yelled, interrupting their argument. "Point is, I will not tolerate fighting in my school, and like it or not I've got a kid with a broken nose whose parents are probably going to file a lawsuit. Colin, I'm sorry, I'm sure you had your reasons, but I'm going to have to suspend you for a week."

"But…" Serendipity began to protest before catching a glare from Tommy telling her to drop it.

"Coach Andrews wanted you expelled. This is the least I can get away with giving you without having the education board investigate. I'll have your teachers forward your work so you don't fall behind." Colin groaned and left the room as Tommy gestured to the door. "As for you Charisma, I'm sure you'll take a weeks detention as a suitable punishment."

She got up to leave before Tommy called her back.

"By the way, you handled yourself really well. If you want more lessons, my friend Adam owns the gym across the street." He told her. "I'm sure he'd gladly give you some tuition. And you might want to thank Colin. I'm not saying you couldn't have handled it yourself, given the state of the other kids, I know you could, but not many people would have the integrity to stand up for a complete stranger."

Charisma stormed from the room leaving Serendipity alone with Tommy. "I can't prove this is yours, but I know about your arthritis." He stated picking up the cannabis. "Dippy, I can understand why you take it, and what you do in your own time and in your own home is your business. But if I find you with this in my home, or in school again, I'll have no choice but to report the issue."

She got up and turned to leave without protest. She knew better than to try and protest, much less ask for it back.

"First day!" He groaned. "Why does it never go smoothly?"


	2. A New Beginning, Part Two

Charisma stormed down the hall, finding Colin standing waiting outside Dr. Oliver's office. She decided that perhaps Tommy did have a point. It wasn't everyone who'd get involved and stand up for someone they didn't know. Realistically, he'd never met her, so he probably did think she could do with a hand. Making her way over to him, she tried to find the words.

"Listen, Sir Galahad, I…"

"My name's Colin." He interrupted. "A good place to start is using someone's name."

She felt a little taken aback as he said this, and she felt her temper rise a little. She was trying to be nice to him and he was snapping at her? Who did he think he was? She reined herself in realising to her annoyance that she'd probably have reacted in much the same way. "Sorry, Colin. Look, I'm sorry about what happened…"

"Brad's an arsehole." He put down bluntly. "He started it. No doubt he'll get over it."

"His parents will probably buy him a new nose at the weekend." She commented. "Look, I'm sorry for being rude earlier. I really hate people feeling like they have to protect me. I can look after myself…"

"Well Brad's running buddies can vouch for that." Colin remarked. "I just hate to see anyone being hassled like that. I was only planning to tell him where to go, he upped the stakes if you remember."

"Yeah, well nice job of his nose." She chuckled. "Ever think about going into cosmetic surgery?"

"Have you ever thought about going into private security?" He responded. "You were kicking ass out there. Where'd you learn to fight like that?"

"I did Jiu Jitsu back home." She told him. "In the Motor City a girl needs to know how to handle herself."

"I just feel a little embarrassed." He commented. "Here I am going all Sir Galahad to save you and you're the one ends up saving me."

"It's ok." She told him. "Anyway, sorry I'm being all awkward about this, I really hate feeling like I owe someone, but I appreciate the fact you stood up for me, so…" She steeled herself to say it as though she were being asked to renounce all her deepest core values. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Colin replied. "Maybe we can start again. I know I didn't make the greatest first impression at the bagel shop."

"That's ok." She continued. "I was in a rotten mood. I still hate the fact my dad dragged me out here."

"I've got to admit, this is a town that takes some getting used to." He agreed. "Anyway, I didn't catch your name."

"Charisma." She answered. "I know, ironic isn't it?"

"A little." Colin told her. "But I like it. Nice tattoo by the way."

Charisma looked down at the tattoo running the length of her left arm. "I had it done a few months ago." She told him. "It means a lot to me."

"I have considered getting one myself." He stated. "But I haven't found anything that suits me yet. I couldn't just pick something out of a catalogue; it'd have to be something that really meant a lot to me."

They were interrupted as Serendipity left the office, arriving beside them. "Dr. O asked me to bring your work over." She told Colin. "If you could just give me your address, I'll bring it after school each day."

"You know the old theatre on Sycamore?" Colin asked her. She nodded. "Bring the work there. My Uncle owns the theatre; I live with him in the apartment above it."

"I'll bring it over." She told him, turning and limping away down the hall. The way she moved concerned the other two, they had seen her fall during the fight, but there was no way she should be that badly hurt.

"Anyway, I suppose I should be going before I get thrown out." Colin said as he got up to leave. "That or Brad's goons decide they want to go for round two."

"No doubt I'll see you around." Charisma responded. Turning back to face her one more time, he shot out.

"The invitation to the theatre was an open one by the way."

Watching the unusual young man leave, his movements full of an unusual excitement for someone who'd just been suspended on his first day, she thought about it. "Maybe I will go over there." She thought. Checking her watch, she realised the first period was about to start and quickly made her way to class.

Tommy sat at his desk grumbling to himself as he sorted his way through some paperwork. It was always such a hassle to do all the official stuff after going through the motions with the disciplinary process. His thoughts were interrupted as his telephone rang.

"Dr. Oliver." He greeted the caller.

"Are you always so formal lover?" His wife responded cheekily.

A big, bright smile came to his face as it dawned on him Kira was calling. "Only when people use my office phone, the education department won't shell out for caller ID. Probably because they know I'd blow off half my phone calls. How are the kids?"

"Frank's been a bit moody, and he's running a little temperature, I think he must have picked up something from one of the other kids at the park." Kira replied. "Emma feels fine, but she's giving Frank some moral support every time he starts screaming."

"I'm sure everything's fine." Tommy told her. "Anyway, sorry to cut this off, but I've got a tone of disciplinary work to…"

"You told me to call you when it arrived." Kira interrupted him. "I haven't unwrapped it, I just put it aside like you asked."

"You're sure?" Tommy asked her.

"How many large heavy packages are you expecting to be Fed-Exed from South America?" She asked. Tommy chuckled slightly, of course she was sure. He'd only been reminding her every day for the last week to expect it. If anything she was going a little stir-crazy as a result of staying in most of the time in case she missed the delivery guy.

"Thanks for the call honey." He replied. "Anything you want me to pick up on the way home?"

"Not today." She confirmed. "Love you."

"Love you too Kira." He concluded the call. Anton had explained to him what he had found in that tomb in South America, but it still hadn't quite sunk in yet. Was it REALLY possible that there were going to be yet more Power Rangers? And that it had somehow fallen to him yet again? He forgot about his paperwork for a second as he stared out of the window, one thought echoed through his mind.

'Thank god there'll be no more teenagers!'

Serendipity struggled through her last couple of classes. The fall she took during the fight earlier had rattled her a bit more than she normally would have been, and the fact that Tommy had confiscated her 'tea' meant she couldn't even slip away somewhere quiet to make herself another cup to ease her pain. In particular she had come down hard on her wrist, and by the end of double English she was virtually incapable of holding a pen anymore.

Breathing a sigh of relief as the final bell rang; she slowly packed away her things as she thought about the walk over to Sycamore. It was only a couple of blocks, but in her current state it was a daunting prospect. Hefting her shoulder bag up out of her seat, she wandered down the corridor; she was confronted by Brad and his friends, who were surrounded by the usual gaggle of vacuous, superficial schoolgirls all hoping to catch the eye of one of the school's athletes. As she attempted to step round him, he barred her path.

"Hey, get a message to that friend of yours that his card's marked." Brad said aggressively. "Me and the guys all got a week detention because of him."

"You got a detention because of yourselves." She stammered, trying not to look him in the face. "He was trying to defend himself. You shouldn't have grabbed him."

"This is the way it is Little Miss Hippy." He retorted. "Might makes right. So if the Scotchman has any sense, he'll stay gone, or he's going to have one very painful year."

"Scotsman." She corrected him.

"Excuse me?" One of the female hangers-on interjected.

"Scotch is a drink." Serendipity continued. "Scots refers to someone or something Scottish. Brad's only succeeded in showing his ignorance."

"At least he can walk!" She snapped back as Serendipity began limping away, a few warm tears beginning to run down her face. As the kids laughed, they never even noticed Tommy arriving behind them.

"Did I miss a joke?" He asked. Rather than try to come up with an answer, the assembled group just chose to quickly leave the area. Brad and his friends, however, had nowhere to go. They were already late for detention. "I take it you haven't forgotten the way." Tommy said with authority, flicking a thumb down the hall. As the Jocks turned and left, Tommy made his way up the corridor to her side.

"Dippy are you ok?" He asked. She usually let her few close friends call her 'Dippy' for short. He could guess that she wasn't by the way she was acting, and he could probably guess what it was about.

"I'm just a little sore." She answered, continuing towards the door. "Because of the fall I took earlier."

"There's more to it than that. Isn't there?" He pressed the matter.

"I'm not going to tattle on everyone who teases me about being a cripple." She shot back. "I don't need any more hassle."

"Look, I know I've offered to help before, and if you still don't want it I can't force you." He began, placing a hand on her shoulder. "But at least you can let me give you a lift to Colin's place. Looking at the way you're limping, I wouldn't feel right about letting you walk."

"Thanks Dr. O." She responded as she sniffed away a tear. "I wasn't looking forward to the walk."

Charisma spent her entire time in detention ignoring the icy glares of Brad and his friends, simply taking the time to get some homework out of the way as she mentally prepared herself for the inevitable lecture her dad would give her for coming home late. It still annoyed the hell out of her that she had gotten into trouble just for standing up to some testosterone-fuelled over-privileged steroid monkey, but she couldn't help but feel a little better at having met Colin.

She had to admit he was kind of strange, I mean who the hell starts reciting poetry when a guy twice his size is threatening to beat the crap out of him? But at least he didn't seem the same as all the other superficial jerks that seemed to overrun this hell hole. She probably wouldn't have thought much of him if she'd met him among her old friends, but here she was on her own. She thought again about his invitation, figuring that he at least didn't seem to mean any harm. 'What the hell.' She thought. 'It's not like dad can scream at me any more.'

Tommy arrived outside the old theatre with Dippy a little while later, and decided to follow her in. They moved inside the aging, old-fashioned old theatre and marvelled at the idea that somewhere like this still existed in a city as bright and colourful as Vegas. They looked around in awe at the high, curved boxes hanging over the ground floor seating area, which was filled with row upon row of red velvet seats. The paint and the gold leaf on the balcony fronts had seen better days, as had the massive crystal effect chandelier that hung high above the centre of the theatre. Tommy quickly checked for signs that they had somehow stepped through a time portal before he saw Colin and his uncle who appeared to be in the middle of a heated discussion. Tommy could probably guess what it was about.

"I'm sorry, opening night's Friday at 9pm." The older man called over, obviously under the impression that they were patrons.

"Hi there. I'm Dr. Oliver." He introduced himself, making his way over to the older man. "I take it you're Colin's uncle."

"Everyone calls me Al." He greeted him. "I'm sorry about Colin's behaviour. I swear…"

"Actually I was just going to tell you that he was only defending himself against a bigger student." Tommy interrupted him. "I wouldn't go too hard on him."

"So why is he suspended?" His uncle asked.

"Normally students would probably only get a detention for fighting, but one of the other boys was badly hurt, and his friends all maintained that Colin started the fight." Tommy explained. "For what it's worth I've known the other boys for a while and am well aware what they're like, but my hands were tied. For what it's worth they're all in detention."

"Is this true?" Al barked at his nephew.

"No." Came a response from the door as Charisma arrived. "Actually he was helping me out."

"The point is I just wanted to put your mind at rest." Tommy informed him. "I know Colin isn't a bad kid, that's why I just suspended him. Serendipity will bring him his assignments until he comes back next week."

"You can rest assured he'll do them." Al answered, giving Colin a less-than-thrilled glance. Tommy felt a little better at this, it was obvious his uncle was still not happy about him fighting, but at least he knew it wasn't his fault. "Anyway we appear to have company, and I doubt it's for me. Dinner will be ready in a couple of hours."

"Thanks Uncle Al." Colin responded as the three teens sat in the old theatre. Checking his watch, Tommy took this opportunity to head home. He was far more interested in dealing with his project there.

Arriving back at his house a little after 6pm, he made his way inside, where Kira was minding the kids, while Adam sat on the couch awaiting Tommy's arrival.

"So Kira says you think we might have new Ranger Powers at our disposal." Adam stated. "Are you sure?"

"Hayley did a scan of the area where Anton was digging when he found the crystal, and found a massive spike in Morphing Grid energy." Tommy began, a little nervousness evident in his voice. "The energy spike relocated to here when Anton sent me the crystal. There definitely is Morphing Grid energy connected to this crystal."

"So what are we going to do with it?" Adam asked. "You know what usually happens when someone activates Morphing powers right?"

"Big ugly monsters! Evil creatures!" Kira responded sarcastically. "Almost getting vaporised on a daily basis. Any of this ringing a bell?"

"Those things happen anyway." Tommy continued. "The Morphing Grid normally only sends powers when something big and bad is about to happen." Kira's mouth hung open in amazement and she held up a hand like she had something to say. "Oh come on! One time it was my fault. It's not like I invited Rita or Zedd or the others to go on a rampage!"

"Even if something is coming." Adam interrupted, coming back to the point. "What are you going to do with this?"

"You really have to ask?" Tommy interjected.

"Oh no, not this time, not again!" Kira protested. "Tommy, we have Kids to consider!"

"Exactly." Tommy answered her. "If something DOES happen and if Rangers ARE needed again, don't you think it's better that a veteran team takes the reigns?"

"I'm not thrilled about the idea." Adam groaned. "Chrissy and I were kind of getting used to settling down together, but he has a point Kira."

"I suppose." She replied with a little sigh. "I guess we can expect to be giving Dippy a whole lot more babysitting work in the foreseeable future."

"So what do we do?" Adam asked.

Tearing open the package from Anton, and shoving the Soulfire Crystal to one side with a pen, he began examining the tablet. "According to this." He informed them. "It will activate when the three strongest souls on the planet each seize the crystal."

"Kind of like the Dino Gems." Kira commented. "But wait a minute. Didn't you say that the Dino Gems chose us, not the other way around? Is it even possible for us to take these powers?"

"There's one way to find out." He replied. With that, they all reached forward, their hearts racing as they prepared to once again step back into that world. Closing their eyes and preparing for the rush of energy to overtake them, they seized the crystal…to find it cold.

"Isn't something supposed to happen?" Adam asked. "Like, anything at all?"

"This definitely holds Morphing Grid energy." Tommy reiterated, picking it up and inspecting it more closely.

"Like I said, maybe it does." Kira interrupted him. "But those powers aren't for us."

"I'll run more tests on it in the school lab at lunchtime." Tommy grumbled, trying hard to not sound too disappointed. "Maybe somehow I can get lucky and find out more about this thing. Preferably BEFORE the big bad guy comes to town."

"What big bad guy?" Adam asked.

Tommy pointed to the bottom of the tablet, specifically to the image of a dark figure carved into the bottom. "According to Anton's translations, there's a daemon, an envoy of the Incan god Supay. The God of death and Uca Pacha."

"Let me guess. Not a holiday resort." Adam surmised from Tommy's tone.

"The Incan equivalent of hell." Tommy informed them. "There Supay has an army of daemons. His plan is to have them break free from Uca Pacha and invade the earth."

"So what about this 'envoy'? Where does he come in?" Kira asked.

"Legend has it that in a plot to weaken the gateway between Earth and Uca Pacha, he had a Daemon marry and have a child with an evil human, giving birth to a creature that was both human AND daemon allowing it access into the earth. The ancients simply called it 'Darksoul'."

"So why hasn't he succeeded already?" Adam asked. "I mean he has had a few thousand years to accomplish his mission."

"Before he could successfully open the gateway, the ancient warriors were able to destroy his human half, thereby denying him a physical body." Tommy continued with Anton's notes. "He exists only by possessing the bodies of people with enough evil in their soul to allow him access. Each of these possessions only garners him a limited time on earth, but he continues to exist, searching for the only thing, with the power either to destroy him completely, or to open the gateway."

"The Soulfire Crystal." Kira completed the story. "So we need to find whoever can harness these powers in case Darksoul comes looking for it."

"I don't think it's as much a matter of 'if'." Tommy told them truthfully. "As it is a matter of 'when'."

Deep in the night, the dark spectre of Darksoul's wraith-like form drifted through the air of Las Vegas' bustling night. 'It is no coincidence the humans call this place Sin City.' He thought as he drifted through the night. 'The very aura of evil is palpable. I simply need to find the right form to assume. One who's sin is unknown. One with the influence to make my time here easier.'

Drifting through the walls of several homes, he stared into the very essence of the inhabitants before finding exactly what he was looking for.

'Yes. This one is perfect.' He thought. 'Powerful and influential. He does not have blood on his hands, but the murder on his soul is undeniable.' With that, he drifted into the sleeping body of his chosen victim. 'Soon I will have all the power I need.'

The following day, Tommy had decided to bring the Soulfire Gem to the school lab. He had absolutely no idea what new information he could gleam from it here, all he knew was that his initial hope, that somehow he and his friends could harness the energy had proven fruitless. He had to hope that somehow he could find the ones that were destined for these powers.

As he sat, pondering if there was somehow a way to reverse the energy signature, in effect get the crystal to seek out it's chosen owners. He noticed at last that it began to glow brightly, almost as though calling it's owners to it.

Serendipity and Charisma arrived in the hallway together, bidding Colin farewell as he dropped them off just outside the school grounds. They'd talked for quite a while the previous night in the old theatre.

"Check that out." Charisma commented, pointing to a strange, bright glow emanating from under the door to Dr. O's lab. "What do you think that's all about?"

"No doubt we'll know by the time it comes to Dr. O's class." She replied with a shrug. Suddenly, a chorus of shrieks erupted from all directions as mysterious humanoid creatures composed of an unknown black material that shimmered as they moved burst into the corridors from seemingly all directions. Students stampeded around in blind panic in a vain attempt to escape.

"What are these things?" Dippy asked.

"I don't know, but I don't think we want to stick around to find out." Charisma shot back, and looking around, they picked the nearest available door, finding themselves staring in shock at their principal, skilfully fighting off three of the creatures as they attempted to grab a strange, glowing crystal from his grasp.

"Dr. O, what's going on?" Dippy shrieked as she looked for a place to hide. As one of the creatures tried to grab Charisma, she lashed out, catching it across what appeared to be it's head with a hard kick.

"O.K. New plan." She snapped. "Until we find a way out, start hitting anything that doesn't look human."

Colin was about to leave as he saw the creatures burst into the building. The shrieks from inside informed him immediately that this could not be a good thing. Without thinking, he sprinted inside. 'I just found the only two people in this dump who didn't immediately try to kick my arse.' He thought. 'No way I'm leaving them in the lurch.'

Charging through the corridor, he barged aside a few of the creatures as he desperately searched for his newfound friends. However, he quickly found himself surrounded. Noting his situation, he prepared for the inevitable. Grabbing him in a powerful grip, the launched him through the air. 'This is going to hurt.' He thought to himself before being launched with great velocity through the science lab door, landing in a pile of scattered debris.

"What are you doing here?" Tommy asked.

"Uh, rescuing you guys." He responded, a little embarrassed at his current predicament.

"Well you suck at rescues." Charisma commented as she slammed one of the creatures into a desk.

As the crystal glowed brighter than ever, the creatures re-doubled their efforts to retrieve it from Tommy. Finding himself surrounded, he saw Colin standing near the door.

"Colin, this is what they're looking for." He shouted, throwing it in his direction. "Catch."

As Colin prepared to catch the glowing crystal, it inexplicably split into three pieces in the air, each piece splintering off into a different direction coming to rest by the three teenagers. None of them knew why, but they each felt an irresistible urge to grab the glowing fragments, watching in disbelief as it seemed to sink into the palm of their hand and disappearing inside them, before huge, bright energy waves engulfed the room, sending the creatures fleeing from the school, disappearing as quickly as they had arrived.

Charisma looked in shock at the fine, red aura glowing around her body before it dissipated. Looking over at her friends the same was happening to them, only with different colours. Colin's aura was blue and Dippy's yellow. The three of them came together and just stared at their principal, who instead of anticipating their inevitable question could only say…

"This is going to be a long year!" Shaking his head in the sort of way that screamed 'Why me!'


	3. A New Beginning, Part Three

The three teenagers just sat in the back of Dr. O's car as he drove them back to his place, exchanging a few confused glances. School had unsurprisingly been cancelled for the day, so it would be a while before their respective parents and guardians missed them. "We'll go back to mine, then I'll explain everything. I promise." He'd told them. How? Not even half an hour ago they were attacked by, god knows what for whatever reason.

The only thing they knew for sure was that it had something to do with that crystal Dr. O had been holding. They'd been trying to get it from him when they arrived, only it had somehow split up, and once they grabbed it, the pieces just vanished without a trace. How in the hell could someone explain all this? Dippy just hoped her mom had mixed her morning tea a little too strong, but given the fact that she'd been fine on the walk to school, she already knew that was wishful thinking.

Throwing the car carelessly into the driveway, almost taking out his mailbox as he did so, Tommy quickly showed the teenagers inside, before closing the door behind them.

"Hi there Dippy." Kira greeted the regular babysitter. "Tommy, what about school? You didn't say anything about bringing round company."

"I didn't exactly plan this." He replied, kissing her gently on the cheek. "Anyway, make yourselves comfortable guys. This is my wife Kira, Kira this is Colin and Charisma. You already know Dippy."

As they sat in his living room, waiting for an explanation, he seemed to quickly explain something to Kira, who in return just left the room, presumably to deal with the kids.

"OK, I told you I'd explain everything." He began. "A lot of freaky stuff just happened, and a lot of what I'm about to say won't make a heck of a lot of sense right now, so I'll need you all to be a little broad-minded and be open to a lot of ideas that will seem a little out there, you may even think I'm insane. But please at least her me out." The three teens just kind of nodded weakly at him, by now they'd quite happily accept an insane explanation just to have some idea of what was happening. "Do any of you know what Power Rangers are?"

The three just stared at him in amazement at the question, unable to respond in any kind of way that made sense. Eventually Colin broke the silence.

"Dr. O, I don't know what you've been smoking," he began, "but it must be pretty good."

"Those black shiny things had something to do with Power Rangers?" Charisma asked a little confused. "I thought they were the good guys."

"Yes, well no, well…" Tommy realised he was getting lost as he tried to explain the situation. "We'll start with those black things. For want of a better title we'll call them 'shades'. They were after the crystal I was holding in the lab, the one that was glowing. I take it you all figured that much out right?"

They nodded as they continued to look at Tommy like he was wearing a tinfoil hat and explaining that aliens were stealing his brainwaves.

"Well, without complicating things too far, they work for a guy named Darksoul." He continued with his explanation. "He wanted that crystal so he could open a gateway to another realm, Uca Pacha where his master, Supay and an army of daemons are waiting to invade the earth."

"So what happened to the crystal?" Serendipity asked him. "We all saw it…it whatever it did."

"The Soulfire Crystal is attuned to the strongest souls on earth." Tommy explained. "When the three strongest souls on earth each seize the crystal, well, their portion of it anyway, it will bind with the bearer and grant them the power of the Soulfire Rangers."

"So you're trying to tell us…" Colin gasped.

"The Crystals have bound themselves to you." Tommy told them. "The powers have chosen you to carry their power. You're now going to be Power Rangers."

"Ok, fascinating as all this is Dr. O." Charisma began, getting up to leave. "I think I need to be going."

"It's too late." Tommy interjected. "The Crystals have chosen you as their carriers of their power. The only way you can be separated from them now is if you're destroyed."

As the three teens just stared at him in disbelief, Kira arrived back in the room, moving close to him and whispering. "You still haven't worked on that sales pitch since the last time, have you?"

"I kind of hoped that would be the last time." He responded under his breath. Turning back to the teens who were still completely confused, he continued. "Since those things have already tried to retrieve the crystal, it's a safe bet that Darksoul, if not on his way, is already here. In which case, you will need to harness the power of the Crystal to fight him."

"Uh, Dr. O." Serendipity interrupted. "You do know I'm a Pacifist, right?"

"That didn't matter to the Crystal." Tommy told her. "And it definitely won't matter to Darksoul. If you don't fight, then the earth will be doomed. It will take all of you to make this work."

"Only bit I don't get," Colin thought aloud, "is if we are Power Rangers, aren't we meant to have special powers or something?"

Kira couldn't help but chuckle a little, remembering asking almost exactly the same question herself when she became a Ranger.

"You will have." Tommy told them. "You just don't know it yet."

So what kind of powers?" Serendipity asked, throwing her arms wide. Without explanation, a vase flew from the table, shattering on the wall at the opposite side of the room. "Ok. What the hell just happened?" She yelled in a panic. "I never touched it. You all saw that, I never touched it."

"Looks like one of your gifts seems to be telekinesis." Tommy commented, observing the wreckage. Dippy concentrated for a second on the pieces on the floor, causing them to stir a little, before eventually they lifted off the ground, drifting across the room before falling neatly into the trash can in the corner.

"Thanks for clearing that up." Tommy stated, clearly impressed that she'd managed to control her gift so quickly. "I guess with practice that'll become useful."

Without warning, Colin disappeared from view, before re-appearing about six feet in the air above the couch. Dippy and Charisma only just managed to dive out of the way as he came crashing down onto the cushions.

"Why do I always get dumped on my arse?" Colin complained loudly. "What did I ever do to you Dippy?"

"I didn't do it!" She protested. "You vanished and re-appeared up there!"

"I think you might have done it yourself." Tommy thought aloud. "Try concentrating really hard on another point in the room."

Colin concentrated hard, before finding himself inexplicably finding himself at the top of the stairs.

"Looks like you can teleport." Tommy informed him. "We can take the time to test your limits later."

"So now we just need to know what I can do." Charisma interjected, by now coming round to the idea with a little excitement. Suddenly Dippy gave out a terrified yelp and leapt off the couch. Looking down at her hands, Charisma could see why. They had burst into flames.

"Ohmigogohmigodputthemoutputthemoutputthemout!" She screamed in a barely coherent manner, before realising that it didn't actually hurt! Concentrating for a second, the flames died down and extinguished themselves. Trying it out another couple of times, she realised she could ignite them at will.

"O.K. we have these freaky powers. Cool powers, but freaky none the less." Colin began. "But from what I know about Power Rangers, aren't we meant to have protective uniforms and weapons and stuff?"

"You'll get those…as soon as I figure out the rest of this tablet." Tommy replied, a little too honestly. The three teens groaned as he said this.

"We thought you knew what you were doing with all this stuff!" Colin complained loudly.

"Hey, I only just started working on this myself yesterday!" He replied. "I still haven't figured everything out."

Just then, the T.V. cut to a news report from the Las Vegas Strip, depicting more of the shimmering black creatures that attacked the school tearing apart the street as tourists and other bystanders ran around in a blind panic.

"Looks like you'll get a chance to road test those new powers." Kira said, gesturing in the direction of the screen.

"O.k. how do we get there?" Colin asked. "Do we have assault vehicles or…" He was cut off as Tommy just shrugged. "Oh, right. Guess we got into this a bit early for that."

"Can any of you drive?" Tommy asked, pulling out his car keys.

"Not yet." Dippy answered

"Failed Driver's ed." Charisma informed him. "I'm still waiting on my re-sit."

"Guess I'm driving." Colin groaned. "How's your insurance?"

"Put it this way, don't crash." Tommy responded, throwing him the keys.

Thanks to Colin's break-neck driving, they arrived at the scene a short time later, bailing out of the car as they neared the ensuing chaos.

"Get out of here." Charisma yelled at the pedestrians stampeding through the streets as she pressed her attack against the nearest shade. "Colin, think you can handle these guys?" She asked as she skilfully spin kicked one of the creatures to the ground.

"No problem." He remarked, grabbing one and hurling it into a group of others rushing towards him, before following up with a running drop-kick. Hauling himself to his feet he shot back. "Not as pretty, but it works."

"Dippy you ok?" Charisma asked as she took down another.

"Guys I really don't know where to begin." She shrieked. "I've never fought anyone."

"Do you know how to make a fist?" Colin asked her.

"Yeah." She replied.

"Well do that, then start hitting these things…A LOT!" He shouted back.

Realising that with such relative novices at her side she could be in trouble, Charisma looked round, and noticed that the street had emptied.

"No one else is around." She yelled with authority, igniting her hands. "Use your powers."

"Finally." Colin shot back, teleporting behind the large group barrelling towards him. Picking up a car bumper that had become detached from it's parent vehicle, he swung wildly sending them flying in all directions. "This is looking up, but any time Dr. O wants to tell us how to access the big guns…"

'I just figured it out. Give me a chance.' They heard Tommy's voice in their minds.

"Dr. O?" Dippy asked a little confused as she hurled a couple of shades across the street telekinetically.

'There's no need to talk.' Tommy informed them. 'One of your abilities is the ability to transmit your thoughts to another person if you concentrate on them hard enough. You can communicate telepathically.'

'So we can read minds?' Charisma thought.

'No, but you can tell someone your thought telepathically and…do you want to access the powers or have a debate about telepathy?' He responded. 'To access the powers, hold out your right hand and say "Fire of the soul ignite!".'

'Are you serious?' Colin thought. 'Sounds like something from a kids TV show.'

'Trust me.' Tommy replied. 'The battles you have to look forward to, aren't for kids.'

"Well if no one has any better suggestions." Charisma yelled, finding a clearing in the chaos. She threw her hand up in the air, and watched as the fragment of the crystal emerged from the palm of her hand. "Fire of the soul IGNITE!"

She was engulfed in flames briefly, which dissipated to real what appeared to be a red lycra body suit with a white chest, bearing the marking of a three-tiered cross. The helmet on her head resembled the face of a puma, with the visor set into the open mouth.

"Guys it works!" She re-assured them. "It feels incredible. Try it."

"Fire of the soul IGNITE!" Colin and Dippy yelled together. As the flame dissipated, they found themselves standing in similar body suits to Charisma's, though Colin's was blue, and the helmet resembled the head of a snake, while Dippy's was yellow, with a helmet resembling the features of a condor.

"Now I feel like I could take a hundred of these guys." Colin shouted with a little too much excitement in his voice as he plunged into their ranks.

"This is amazing!" Serendipity called out as she began striking out at shades far more enthusiastically than before. "I shouldn't be able to do this! I can barely run a few blocks!"

"We'll figure that out later." Charisma commented. "We should be able to summon weapons." As she said this, a length of chain with heavy, weighted spheres attached to either end appeared in her hands. "Now this I could get used to."

"Hey, I got myself a Claymore." Colin shouted as he began setting about his opponents with the large, heavy, two-handed sword. "I always wanted one of these things."

"Razor fans." Serendipity said as she struck out with her newfound weapons. "I like these!"

Suddenly, the shaded shimmered and disappeared from sight, leaving the three comrades standing in the middle of the unusually deserted Strip. Coming together, Colin approached the subject first.

"Are battles supposed to go this smoothly?" He asked.

Just then, a massive red daemon that appeared to be made of constantly shifting molten metal appeared over the skyline. It's wings spanned at least a hundred feet, massive clawed hands tore at nearby buildings, while it roared a deep, bellowing growl with it's massive, horned head.

"You had to ask." Charisma groaned. She concentrated on Tommy for a second to communicate. 'Dr. O, aren't we meant to have giant robots to fight this kind of thing?'

'Normally yes, but the crystal was found in South America so…' His thoughts were interrupted as three massive statues exploded out of the ground, showering debris in all directions. One depicted a snake, while the others were a puma and a condor. Glowing ominously for a few seconds, they appeared to burst into life, turning into active, metal robots and taking on their respective colours. The snake blue, the puma red and the condor yellow. 'My guess is, those are for you.' He concluded his thoughts.

"So we just jump inside?" Charisma asked.

"Looks like it." Colin responded.

Finding themselves in the cockpits, they found to their surprise that there were no controls. The zords appeared to respond instead to mental commands.

'Command the zords to combine.' Tommy communicated to them. 'They're more powerful as a unit than as separate entities.'

"You heard him." Charisma shot out.

As the others watched, Charisma's puma zord stood on it's hind legs, as it's head folded into it's chest, revealing a humanoid face. Colin's Zord appeared to break into pieces, attaching itself to the puma's arms and legs forming a sort of armour in places, while it's head attached to the right arm, forming a weapon. Finally, the condor attached to the back of the construct, the head folding over the top of the head, forming a sort of helmet, completing the transformation.

"I don't know why, but I feel like I'm getting instructions." Colin told the others. "It's almost like the zords are telling me how to attack."

"It's not just you." Charisma informed him. "I'm hearing it too."

"They've done alright by us up until now." Serendipity put down with a shrug. "I say we listen to them."

As the monster approached, intent on destruction, the zord took flight, soaring over head before looping back round, heading straight towards it.

"FULL POWER!" They yelled together. The entire right arm of the zord glowed brightly, before driving itself straight through the daemon. Coming to rest a short way behind it, they turned in time to see it explode, leaving nothing behind.

Later that evening, they arrived back at Tommy's house, where Colin handed back the keys to his car, breathing a sigh of relief that he was returning it in one piece.

"You guys did well out there." Tommy congratulated them. "But things will only get tougher. You haven't yet unleashed the full power of the crystal."

"What do you mean?" Dippy asked him. "We have the ability to morph, we controlled the zords…"

"Summon your crystals." Tommy interrupted. As they held out their hands, and the crystals emerged from the palms of their hands, Tommy inspected them. "Just as I thought." He pointed to each of the crystals in turn, drawing a finger avross an area on each one in which a sliver appeared to have been chipped out. "The Soulfire Crystals attach to your soul, and manifest allowing you access to your powers. But your crystals are not yet complete. You do not yet have full access to the extent of your powers."

"Why are the crystals not complete?" Colin asked.

"Because your souls are not complete." Tommy answered him. "Each of you has some part of your soul missing. Some lesson to learn or some wounds to heal before your soul will release the final fragment of your crystal. Only then will you be able to access the full energy of the crystal. Only then will you be able to generate the power needed to destroy Darksoul for good."

The following morning, Kira had an appointment with her producer, Barry Goldstein. He had begun marketing her latest album overseas and she knew he probably just wanted to run a few poster ideas past her.

Sitting in his office, he checked his appointment book, scanning the names. 'I don't call her Kira' he thought. 'What do I call her? Spir, Spur Spar…Sparky, that's it."

As the PA showed her in, he flashed a smile at her. "Hello Sparky, how are you today?"

"Good thanks Barry." She replied. "Frank and Emma are pretty rested, but I think Frank might be about ready for a growth spurt. He's eating like a horse."

'Who's Fran…wait, growth spurt, it's obviously her child.' He thought. "Little Frank growing up nicely. Glad to hear it. Just wanted to forward you the advance cheque from your European sales." He said handing her the cheque made out in her name.

"You usually just send these to me." She remarked. "Is everything ok? You're acting a little strange."

"I must be coming down with something." He replied. "Anyway, that's everything. Call me if you need anything and let me know how little…uh…Frank's doing."

"I will." She said as she got up to leave. "See you around Barry."

Watching her leave, he realised that he'd almost blown it. He didn't yet know enough about Barry to deal with his appointments. He buzzed the intercom to his PA.

"Cancel the rest of my appointments and take the day off." He told her. "I'm not feeling well."

Then he drifted back into his own thoughts. 'You've held out for longer than I'd have expected. But soon I'll know enough to replicate you. No human can resist my control for long.'


	4. Charisma's Trust

Charisma woke up with a lot on her mind. Not just because only three days ago her life had been turned upside down by the fact she'd suddenly had super powers thrust on her and been told that like it or not it was now her responsibility to save the world at a sacrifice to her own lifestyle, but because she knew what tomorrow was. It was the most important day of the year to her, even more important than Christmas.

She washed up and got dressed with her usual level of care, throwing on the first thing she could grab out of her dresser. Checking herself in the mirror after finishing her makeup, she picked up her marker pen and paused with a sigh as she realised that after tomorrow, it would be four years to the day since she had adopted her straight edge lifestyle. She had been drawing that X on her hand for four long years.

Making her way downstairs she cursed her luck as she realised her dad must have got up early today. Rolling her eyes, she prepared for the inevitable shouting match.

"Last day of detention?" Her dad asked sarcastically. He knew damn fine it was, it was now the last day of the unjust sentence handed to her when the school caveman had tried to hit on her. She still couldn't help but get angry as she recalled the way he tried to pressure her into going out with him, but even more so at being denied the chance to kick his ass herself when Colin got involved. That said she still had to try hard not to laugh as she though about the look on everyone's face when rather than being intimidated, Colin head butted him, introducing him to the 'Glasgow Kiss' as he called it. Brad still had his face strapped up like a mummy, and though his rich parents would likely fork out to have it fixed cosmetically, the obvious humiliation of his temporary disfigurement and being put on his ass by a man half his size was more than worth the punishment. "Try not to get in any more fights."

"I told you I didn't start that fight." She reminded him with obvious venom in her tone. "He wouldn't take no for an answer. Are you trying to tell me I should say yes to every guy that doesn't back down?"

"No, I'm not." He fired back, tossing his newspaper on the table. "But try to take a more considered approach. The kid whose nose you broke has rich parents. His dad's a lawyer. You're lucky he didn't sue us."

"Firstly, I didn't break his nose. I've told you that a hundred times." She screamed. "Secondly, sue us for what? This crappy apartment that we don't even own? Or your clapped out Volvo that probably isn't worth $10 as scrap?"

"Mind your tongue!" He snapped. "I still buy all those ridiculous clothes you wear, I still pay for all those CD's you call music and I still put food on the table."

"That's about all you do for me." She pressed on. "You took me away from everyone and everything that mattered to me."

"Those people you hung around with were losers." He barked as his impatience with his moody daughter grew. "And by the sound of these people you hang out with now, it sounds as if you've taken the first opportunity to find the bottom of the barrel and started scraping for all you're worth here as well."

"For your information, Serendipity has already skipped one year and has about the highest grade point average in the entire school." She began. "And Colin was in the top ten percentile at his last school."

"And what about here?" Her father asked.

"You know damn fine he was suspended for hitting Brad." She yelled as she stormed out of the door. "I'm going to a party after school. I might not be back tonight!" Slamming the door as she went, her blood burned in her veins as she stormed off to meet up with her new friends at the theatre before school.

She and her father had clashed heads for so long she almost couldn't remember a time when they'd just sat and talked about something. It usually quickly devolved into a contest to see who would sink the furthest, quickest in an attempt to hurt each other. He never liked her friends back home, despite many of them being on the honour roll, and he didn't like her friends here either. He wanted a nice, normal daughter to show pictures of to the pencil pushers in his work, a cheerleader with a cute boyfriend, preferably the captain of whatever sports team he was on, who made her daddy proud. That wasn't her though. She made her own way in life and that wasn't about to change.

She arrived at the theatre owned by Colin's uncle, finding that, as usual, the door wasn't locked. She went inside to find a few actors in costume, practicing for the opening night performance, tuning up as they prepared for the curtain to go up. His Uncle was putting on his own production of "Phantom of the Opera", and it was obviously causing him a headache. Between set designers constantly whinging about budgeting problems and actors whining that they didn't have big enough parts he was quickly losing patience. He'd already fired three extras this week.

"Hi Charisma." Colin greeted her from the edge of the stage, making his way down the aisle to meet her. "Ready for tonight?"

Musicals weren't really her thing, but Colin's uncle had insisted that he work the concessions stand as part of his punishment for being suspended. Charisma and Serendipity has already agreed to come along for moral support, and to help him clear up afterwards. The sooner he had cleaned up the sooner he could go to the after-show party, and he had invited them along. "Sure." She replied as convincingly as she could. "Wouldn't miss it."

"Anyway, I'm just going with Charisma and Dippy to re-register. I'll see you later Uncle Al." He yelled to his uncle, who just waved him off over his shoulder while he explained once again why Raul shouldn't win the sword fight with the Phantom. "I told him a little white lie and said I had to re-register at school today." He explained to her in a whisper. "That should get me out of a couple of hours work."

"So what have you been doing with your time?" Charisma asked.

"Actually Tommy recommended that I see the guy that owns the gym across from the school." Colin told her. "His name's Adam and apparently they go way back. He's been giving me some lessons."

"You're training now?" Charisma asked a little surprised. "You never seemed interested before!"

"Well in the last week I've been dumped on my arse more than once." He replied honestly. "I figure if we are going to do the whole superhero thing long-term then a few lessons wouldn't go amiss."

"You didn't do that badly." Charisma said as a compliment.

"I was there remember." He responded. "Where I come from some charm and a decent right hook can get you out of trouble most of the time, but I reckon I could do worse than get a few pointers from someone who knows what they're doing."

"Well I have to applaud the effort." She said with a smile. "I would have thought you wouldn't have had a lot of time on your hands with the coursework."

"Please, that only takes me a couple of hours." He laughed. "If anything the teachers hold me back. So I've been putting my spare time to good use by going to see Adam for a couple of hours a day. He's pretty good, I'll definitely keep it up once I go back to school."

"Maybe I should check it out." Charisma replied thoughtfully. "Tommy mentioned it on the first day."

As they arrived at the school, finding Serendipity already there, Colin quickly said his farewells before making his way across the street to Adam's gym.

"I didn't know he had a membership there." Dippy commented.

"Neither did I." Charisma said. "Anyway, I was wondering if you could help me with my Spanish homework."

Colin arrived in the gym, finding Adam warming up on the mats. Noticing Colin arrive, he made his way over, bowing as he did so. Colin returned the gesture.

"You've been doing very well in my tutorials." Adam told him.

"I was wanting to talk to you about that." Colin began. "I can't really afford to pay you, so before I start looking for part-time work I was wondering if there was anything I could do for you here."

Adam thought about it for a second, and looking at the expression on Colin's face, he could see it was a serious offer. "Well it's nothing spectacular." He responded thoughtfully. "But I could always use someone to help out around here. You know, sweep, clear away equipment, clean bathrooms that sort of thing."

"That would be great." Colin answered

"I reckon that should just about cover the lessons." Adam said extending a hand.

Accepting the handshake, Colin made his way over to the changing room feeling pleased that he now had a way to pay for the training he was sure he'd need and, if he was forced to admit it, he found he was actually enjoying.

Charisma and Serendipity made their way into the cafeteria at lunch time, finding it completely crowded. It was going to be hard work finding a table among this lot. Quickly resigning themselves to the fact that getting through the queue here was going to be an exercise in futility, they quit the canteen and decided to grab something at the diner down the street.

"I'm really looking forward to the play tonight." Dippy shot out with a little too much enthusiasm. "Phantom's one of my favourites."

"You actually like that kind of thing?" Charisma asked.

"Of course." She yelped as she flicked her hair out of her face. "I've always loved musicals. They're always so full of drama and passion and…"

"Cheese!" Charisma interrupted her.

"Each to their own." Dippy replied with a shrug. "Surely you're at least looking forward to the party afterwards."

"Kind of." She groaned. "But I'm not really intending to stay too long. I kind of have something important to do tomorrow."

"Really? What is it?" Dippy asked. "Maybe I can help."

"Thanks, but it's kind of personal." Charisma replied. "I'd rather handle it myself."

Following lunch, Charisma and Dippy parted ways as they made their way to their respective classes. Charisma had study hall all afternoon, and had already done most of her weekend's homework. She knew that the staff overseeing the study hall never took attendance and was considering blowing it off so she could make an early start on her shopping for the following day when her thoughts were interrupted by Tommy's thoughts.

'The radio in my office just reported a disturbance at the distillery at the edge of town.' He informed her. 'Dippy's stuck in class, could you and…'

'I'll go.' She thought back.

'Colin's still not back at school.' Tommy reminded her. 'May as well take advantage of…'

'I'll be fine.' She interrupted the though. 'Anyway, I have study hall. How did you know I was going to blow it off? I thought you said we couldn't read minds?'

'I've been a teacher long enough to know what students think.' He answered her. 'Plus I was one myself once.'

Charisma sprinted from the building, almost looking forward to the battle ahead. She had only done the Ranger thing once, and she was already excited at the prospect of doing it again. Sprinting all the way to the distillery, she found a group of about a dozen shades there, smashing the place up, scaring off workers and generally creating merry hell.

"This shouldn't take long." She stated, throwing herself headlong into the fray. Grabbing the first of the shades, she launched it violently into a pile of kegs, sending the stack tumbling onto a couple on the other side.

"Come on, I'm not even trying." She remarked as two more came at her, swinging wildly. Ducking the first as she grabbed the second, she pushed the two of them together before kicking the, across the yard.

Suddenly, one of them struck a keg, sending it crashing into her as she was caught off-guard. Falling to the ground, a couple of them pounced on her, grabbing her and launching her aggressively against a wall, winding her. As another pressed the attack, she ignited her fist, lashing out and burning through them with ease as she fought for breath.

"Not bad." She wheezed as she cradled her ribs, looking at the remaining four. "But not good enough." Launching herself forward, she caught the first two with her burning fists, before launching into an aggressive barrage of kicks, taking out the remaining two.

She extinguished her hands and surveyed the scene as she continued to breathe hard to re-inflate her lungs, watching as the shades disappeared. She had no idea what they wanted here, and she didn't care. If Darksoul had only sent a dozen of them, then clearly the objective couldn't have been that important to him.

"Charisma." Colin yelled as he arrived at the gates. "What the hell! Why didn't you wait for me?"

"I didn't even call for you." She answered. "I knew I could handle it."

"It looks like you did real well." Colin retorted, noting her injuries. "And that's not the point. We're meant to be a team and…"

"I said I could handle it." She interrupted him. "I handled it. Now if you really want to help, you could sort us out a cab to save us the walk home."

Colin shook his head in disbelief as she began walking away nursing her ribcage. He knew she was stubborn, and he knew she had a real problem with being seen as a 'damsel in distress', but he never for one minute believed she'd be reckless enough to take on a fight single-handed out of pig-headed pride. He just resigned himself to the fact that it was pointless to argue and pulled out his cell phone, dialling a local taxi service.

Later that evening, Charisma arrived at the theatre, finding that unlike her previous visits, there were actually people there. It wasn't going to be a full house or even a half-house but there was a fair turnout for the evening. Dippy sat by the edge of the concession stand with an extra-large soda, waving Charisma over as soon as she arrived.

"I heard you had a busy day." She remarked. Charisma looked over to where Colin was pretending he was working, but was in fact, lazily scrawling away a few random thoughts in his little red notebook. Charisma had noticed it the first time she met him, literally bumping into him in the bagel shop, but had never really thought about it. She was a little curious as to what he actually wrote in that thing. She shrugged and decided it was a mystery for another time.

"Yeah. Darksoul sent a few of his goons out to the distillery. Nothing big." She answered.

"Colin told me you ran off by yourself." Dippy pressed the matter. "Colin could have helped you. Why did you risk yourself so needlessly?"

"At the moment I'm the strongest team member." Charisma reminded her.

"Even more reason not to take such silly chances." Serendipity interjected, placing a hand on her shoulder. "What would it have meant to us if you'd gotten seriously hurt?"

"Seriously, you sound like my dad." Charisma groaned. "I'm fine. Now let's get ourselves some seats and watch the show."

"Shouldn't be too hard." Serendipity replied. "Colin's uncle says the top balcony's always clear. We'll have that whole area to ourselves."

Following the show, which Charisma had to grudgingly admit she enjoyed, and helping Colin clear up the concession stand they made their way to the after-party. After about twenty minutes of having actors trying to hit on her or talking about how wonderful they were and hearing the crew grumbling about how lousy their jobs were, she resigned herself to just sitting on the edge of the refreshments table, watching the evening unfold.

As she thought about the day, she still couldn't understand why Colin and Dippy were upset. Seriously she dealt with the shades, and they didn't have to lift a finger. Surely that was a good thing right? Even Colin admitted himself to getting his butt kicked a couple of times in the past week. It wasn't as if she needed the help, she dealt with them by herself just as she knew she could. So what was everyone's problem?

She was interrupted in her thoughts as Dippy sat down next to her.

"Enjoying yourself?" She asked.

"I ssupposse sso." She slurred out as she finished her fifth cup of orange drink. "I normally hate the theatre, but tonight was good."

"Are you feeling alright?" Dippy inquired as she noticed Charisma was a little red-faced.

"SSSuper!" She yelled, throwing her arms in the air enthusiastically. Colin was drawn over by the commotion.

"Is everything alright?" He asked.

"Why does everyone keep asking that?" Charisma slurred, brushing a hand against his cheek. "I'm fine."

Colin picked up her cup and sniffed it. "This isn't orange juice." He informed her. "It's fruit punch. There's enough vodka in there to deck a buffalo."

"She's never had a drink." Dippy announced at the realisation. "No wonder it went to her head."

"Dippy, go and explain the situation to my Uncle, tell him I'm taking her to my room. I'll sleep on the couch." He told her as he helped the badly inebriated Charisma to her feet. "Just this way." He said as he escorted her to her temporary sleeping accommodation.

In the morning, Charisma woke up, a little worse for wear, though not badly so since Dippy and Colin had realised quickly what had happened. She noted the unfamiliar surroundings and figured she'd stayed the night at their place. Checking her watch, she noticed the late hour.

"Crap!" She yelled loudly, throwing back the covers and barrelling out of the room. Finding Colin in the living room reading, she rushed over to him.

"How are you fee…"

"Where's the nearest florist!" She interrupted loudly. "I need to get to a florist, now!"

"Uh, there's one down the street." Colin replied, a little bemused. "Out the door to the right."

Charisma sprinted from the apartment and down the street with incredible pace considering the state she was in the previous evening.

"Why did she want a florist?" He asked as he found himself in the room alone.

Later in the day, Dippy was wandering through the streets when Tommy interrupted their thoughts. 'Guys, there's a daemon down by the shopping district. Hurry.'

Looking round to make sure no one was watching, they all morphed, making their way as quickly as they could to the retail district. There they found a large, muscular daemon wearing a heavy bronze breastplate smashing everything in sight with a huge, heavy mace which he swung in massive sweeping arcs. Turning to face them, they got a look into his hideous reptilian face which housed sickly green eyes.

"Master Darksoul told me you'd come running if I smashed up enough of this wretched planet." He growled in a barely coherent voice. "So which one of you shall I take the crystal from first?"

"Guys, time for the weapons." Charisma yelled, lashing out with her chain. Sparking as it rebounded off his thick, scaly hide.

"That's what I call direct leadership." Colin remarked as he surged forward, lashing out with his claymore. Scoring a couple of telling hits before finding himself being batted away by a powerful blow from the creature's mace. "At least I got a couple of hit in this time." He grumbled as he hauled himself back to his feet to launch another assault.

Serendipity leapt forward, powering up her razor fans and sending forth a couple of powerful energy blasts, before bringing the weapons across his chest, with seemingly no effect. Hurling her through the air, Colin surged across the tarmac, catching her before she reached the ground. "Thanks." She replied as they both turned back to face the creature.

"Don't mention it." He responded.

"Time to heat things up." The creature yelled, belching forth a curtain of flame from it's mouth towards Charisma. As she leapt out of the way, something fell from her belt which fell to the ground, singed almost beyond recognition.

"Scumbag!" She screamed passionately, lunging at him, swinging her chain aggressively into the creature's face. "I've been all over town looking for those! You've destroyed them!"

"Go have a good old cry about it." He replied, mashing downwards with his mace, driving her to the ground. The creature raised the mace again, ready to bring it down onto her prone body. Colin surged forward, leaping into the air.

"Soulfire Claymore, full power." He yelled as he brought it down through the creature in a powerful arc. The daemon keeled over and exploded as he helped Charisma to her feet. She brushed past him, picking up a pair of charred, smoking flowers, from the ground, before tossing them aside.

"It's ok, we can get more." Colin began as Charisma just pulled away and began to walk away. He walked over to the discarded flowers, placing them into his own belt.

"Guys. I think we might want the artillery." Serendipity stated, bringing their attention back to the situation at hand. The daemon they had just defeated was revived and suddenly grew to massive size.

"Zord time?" Colin asked.

"Let's just make it quick." Charisma croaked, inwardly thankful that the helmet didn't allow the others to see the tears in her eyes. She felt bad enough, the last thing she wanted was to look weak.

Quickly forming the Megazord, they advanced on the Daemon, blocking the swing of it's mace before countering with a huge right hand to it's snout, sending it crashing to the ground.

"Serpent strike, full power!" They yelled, causing the snake zord head attached to launch a barrage of high energy blasts, obliterating the daemon and ending the threat.

"Guys, I've got to go." Charisma yelled, powering down as she sprinted away. Colin held up the flowers, presenting them to Serendipity.

"Do you know what these are?" He asked.

"Pink Lillis." She answered him.

"Where can I get some?" He asked. "Charisma had these, and seemed to be upset about them being destroyed."

"They're not in season." Serendipity told him with a little regret. "I doubt you'll find a florist who stocks them at such short notice." She thought about it for a little while. "But I think I know where we can get some."

"Take me there." Colin snapped, following her as they powered down and left the scene.

Just before nightfall, Charisma slowly approached the duck pond in a park in the middle of the city. A hard, tight knot formed in her chest as she approached the pond, and warm tears had already began to roll down her face, ruining her mascara. As she knelt down beside the pond, she pulled a paper boat and a tea light out of a polythene bag, placing the tiny candle in the boat she prepared to launch it.

"I'm sorry." She breathed as the tears began to come a little more readily. "I tried. I really tried so hard. Almost none of the shops had them, and then that thing destroyed the only ones in town I could find."

She knelt by the bank sobbing for a little while, crushed by the disappointment at failing in her task. As she lit the candle and prepared to launch the boat, her attention was grabbed as a pair of Pink Lillis appeared before her face. Turning around, not even caring about the tears anymore, she looked up, finding Colin standing behind her.

"Dippy's dad's a keen gardener." He informed her. "He had some in his greenhouse. Something told me they'd mean more to you today than him."

"Thank you." She croaked, accepting the flowers and placing them in the boat, before setting it loose.

"I don't know why they were so important you." He began. "And if you don't want to tell me…"

"They're for my sister." She interrupted him, wiping away her tears as she spoke. "Today is her Birthday." She looked out over the pond as she recalled the memories. She gestured to her tattoo. "I got this done in her memory. Her name was Lily and she was born in 1977."

"The year of the dragon." Colin breathed softly, understanding the design on her arm.

"The Chinese characters are a prayer wishing the soul safe passage into the afterlife. I used to follow her everywhere. I'd dress like her, I'd act like her, I wanted to be like her in every way. I idolised her."

"What happened?" Colin asked.

"She started hanging around with a bad crowd, she started dating a guy that treated her like a lap dog and encouraging her to do some stuff she shouldn't." She answered him as the tears continued to roll down her pale cheeks. "One night she told us she was going around to a friend's house to study and sleep over. But instead her boyfriend took her to a frat party. There someone sold her a bad needle." She looked up, trying to find the strength to continue the story she'd only told a handful of people in her life. "Some of the med students at the party tried to resuscitate her, and the ambulance got there quickly, but it was too late. By the time they got her to hospital, her brain activity had stopped."

"I'm sorry to hear about that." Colin told her sympathetically.

"On the day of her funeral, coincidentally her 26th Birthday, I made two promises to her." She continued. "I promised that I'd never touch drink or drugs. I would never allow myself to get into the situation where something like that would take my life too."

"And the second promise?" He asked.

Turning to face him, she no longer cared about him seeing her as weak and ignored her tears. "I promised I'd never trust anyone as blindly as she trusted him." She told him. "I promised I'd never let anyone have that level of power over me. Never depend on anyone again."

"That's why you have such a problem with letting people help you." Colin surmised. She nodded to confirm what he'd said. "Charisma, not everyone is your sister's boyfriend. I'm not your sister's boyfriend." He carried on, moving closer and placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You've managed to stand up for yourself for all this time, and it's a huge accomplishment. But you can't shut everyone out. I've spent a lot of years doing that myself. There's no shame in asking for help once in a while, and there are people out there who are worth putting your trust in."

He began to walk slowly away, turning back to leave her with a final thought. "Take it from someone who knows. There's only so many times you can tell people to go away and leave you alone, before that's exactly what they do." He brushed the hair from his eyes looking into hers. "And I can tell you from personal experience. That's one hell of a lonely place to be."

"Colin." She called after him. He stopped in his tracks, turning to face her as she approached. She moved forward, a little awkwardly at first, before putting her arms around him. He returned the gesture, holding her close. "For what it's worth, I do trust you."

"I'm glad you do." He answered.

Behind Colin's back though, neither of them noticed the shard of the Soulfire Crystal appear in Charisma's hand and glow brightly.


	5. Colin's Penance

**A/N:** Sorry this chapter took so long to put up, things have been a little busy lately, and the muse has been descending pretty much whenever she damn well felt like it as opposed to being a regular visitor. An additional note, the character introduced in this chapter, Scott, Is a collaborative effort between myself and fellow author SSJ-Jolt, and will feature heavily in future chapters. If anyone else has any ideas they would like to share, please feel free to PM me. If I like the ideas, I'll get back in touch. (That's how this colaberative effort began.) Anyway, please continue to review and I hope you enjoy it.

Colin awoke with a start as the horrific image came to him yet again. For so long he had been haunted by the images of that day. She never screamed, she never had the time to, but the thing that haunted him the most was the glassy, lifeless look in her eyes as the soulful light of life he'd fallen in love with faded into nothingness.

Moving through to the small bathroom, he switched on the shower, and stepped in before it came to temperature. Shivering beneath it's icy barrage, his heart ached for his life before the whole nightmare had begun.

He quickly dressed in a pair of plain blue jeans and a blue T-shirt, ready for his first day back at school, though he wondered whether it was right to call it a day "back" since, strictly speaking, he'd never had a class there and never really started. He moved down into the old theatre where his uncle stood, throwing knives into a newspaper that he had pinned to a wooden set backing which had been painted as the barbershop for next week's production of "Sweeny Todd".

"Bad review?" He surmised with a little chuckle, approaching his somewhat-too-passionate relative.

"Philistines!" He roared as he launched another blade at the paper. "Charlatans! Laymen!"

"I take that as a yes." He concluded. His uncle had never taken criticism well. He remembered one time he'd actually personally thrown a theatre critic out of his opening night performance because he'd given him a bad review almost two years previously. "Try not to take it to heart. It's all about personal taste. Most of the people in the theatre loved it."

"Most of the people there!" He yelled passionately. "But each of them will tell maybe five people. This frustrated failed director has told nearly 539,000 people that it was…" He leaned closer to read the article. "Unbridled garbage!"

"What does he know?" Colin asked. "Like you said, he's probably a frustrated, failed director himself, just lashing out because his career failed."

"But he'll turn people away from the theatre!" He barked as another blade was launched, striking the picture of the critic squarely between the eyes.

"Look, I'll talk to you about this after school." Colin told him with a small chuckle. "When you've put the sharp objects away."

"See you later." Al called after him as he left. He had to admit that while he had managed to get himself suspended on his first day, at least he'd made a couple of good friends. He had only met them a couple of times, but he knew Serendipity and Charisma would be a good influence on him. The last thing Colin needed was to get into more trouble; he'd already had to leave one home.

Colin arrived at the school a little before first period, finding Charisma and Dippy comparing notes on their maths assignments.

"Glad to have me back?" He asked as he approached them, throwing his bag into the corner.

"Course we are." Dippy answered him wit a bright smile. "This place just seems a lot more interesting when you're around."

"Heads up." Charisma warned him as she saw Brad and a couple of his friends approaching. Colin just stood with his arms folded in front of him, prepared to defend himself if Brad decided to try anything.

"Hey, I see you decided to come back." He sneered as he approached. "Big mistake. Just to let you know, when we get a chance, we will give you the ass kicking of a lifetime."

"Everyone should have a dream." Colin retorted with a little sigh. "Seriously, quit while you're ahead. I already gave you one free nose job. You really want to risk more?"

"You sucker-punched me." He hissed aggressively as he pulled closer. "Next time, I'll be ready for you. Trust me. You're going to hurt."

"Is there a problem here?" Tommy asked as he arrived, finding the tense standoff in the hallway.

"Brad and I were just catching up." Colin told him. "He was welcoming me back to school."

"Well I'm glad you two are clearing the air." He put down flatly. "There'll be no more of that kind of thing in my school. Right?"

"No more fighting at school." Brad replied, moving away a little. "Message received loud and clear Dr. Oliver."

"Anyway time for class." Tommy told them, nodding down the hall. "Go."

As the teens split up to go their separate ways, Colin had to try hard not to laugh. Brad's card had well and truly been marked. He knew that Brad couldn't risk doing anything to him at school now.

He arrived at his last class before lunch, Gym and found Brad and his cronies getting changed in the shower room. They seemed to be laughing about something, and he figured that he'd probably not have to wait too long before they revealed what the joke was. He just had a feeling that they were planning some form of retaliation for the fight.

Coach Andrews walked into the room as they finished getting changed. "Right, football practice today." He announced glancing round the room at them. "Rough game, so everyone go easy. I wouldn't want anyone getting hurt." He glared over to Colin knowingly. The coach had made no secret of the fact he had wanted Colin kicked out after he injured Brad the previous week, but Tommy had over ruled him. Obviously he had set up football practice to give Brad and his friends a way to get their own back without suffering any backlash on a disciplinary level. Colin now knew why they were laughing. No doubt they'd already briefed the other guys on his team to make sure they gave him the ball so they could legitimately target him.

They made their way out onto the field, taking up positions. Colin noted that three of them were lining up directly opposite him, and knew they were going to be coming through fast. As the ball was snapped and handed off to him, the massive teenagers crashed into him, sending him violently to the turf. As they got off him, applauding their handiwork, Colin slowly pulled himself to his feet. He spotted Brad standing opposite him, laughing aloud at his expense and high-fiving the others. He knew that he couldn't retaliate, strictly speaking as long as he was carrying the ball he was a legitimate target, and if he reacted he just knew the coach would report that he started the trouble. No, if he wanted to survive this he had to get proactive and fast.

"Nice play." The quarterback quipped sarcastically. "Guess you Brits don't have the backbone for a little football."

"Actually," Colin replied a little coldly. "In Britain we find it a little odd that a country so focussed on being macho feels the need to wear 80lbs of armour just to play rugby."

"Anyway, I'll hand you the ball again." He continued ignoring him. "This time try and not get sacked right away."

Colin wanted to say something, but knew it was pointless to do so. Breaking from the huddle, he found himself once again setting up opposite three of Brad's friends. Looking around, he noted that the coach was deliberately facing away from the field, so he wouldn't see what was going on. He cursed his predicament as the ball was snapped, and again thrust into his hands. He began running sprinting for all he was worth before being manhandled to the ground out of bounds.

"See you on the next drive." One of the jocks taunted him as he let him get back to his feet. By now no one could have been under any false impressions, this was a revenge beating and it was becoming painfully obvious they intended to do him a serious injury.

At lunch time, Colin limped into the canteen, finding Dippy and Charisma had already secured them a table. Making his way over, Dippy suddenly got a look of concern on her face as she noticed the way he was moving.

"What happened? Are you alright?" She asked as he sat down.

"Coach Andrews decided to give Brad and his friends football practice." He replied. "I've just spent the last half hour playing 'kill the guy with the ball' and you can guess who kept being given the ball."

"Typical." Charisma grumbled as she pushed what appeared to be meatloaf around on her plate, though it looked so stale and unappetising she couldn't be certain what it was. "The jocks give someone a hard time, no one says a thing because they bring in all the sponsorships from the sports teams. Someone does something back and the STAFF see to it that the victims get punished."

"Trust me it's not as bad as it looks." Colin groaned. "I'll be fine in a couple of hours."

Dippy's attention was suddenly grabbed as she saw a new student walking past. He was about six feet tall, with a muscular body that was clearly the result of many years of manual work. His skin was dark and tanned, though a heavily pronounced facial scar running from just under his nose to his ear stood out prominently against his skin. Deep brown eyes just seemed to stare almost lifelessly out of his skull as though barely acknowledging reality. He had short, black hair which was dyed with gold streaks.

He wore a slightly faded purple t-shirt which was a little stretched over his muscular frame, and baggy green cargo pants. Black, fingerless gloves covered each of his hands, though despite the gloves it could still be seen that his right hand was heavily bandaged and seemed barely mobile, just sort of hanging loosely open almost lifeless. Finding a table a short distance from them, he sat down alone, may of the other students further down the table actually seemed to move a little further down, moving away from the new arrival. Something about him clearly unsettled them.

"Does either of you guys know who that is?" Dippy asked them, her curiosity piqued by the new arrival.

"He must have just started here." Colin commented with a shrug. "I can't remember seeing him before."

"Nor me." Charisma interjected.

"I think I'll go say hello." Dippy told them as she picked up her tray and headed over. "I'll see you guys later."

Approaching the table slowly, she gently laid down her tray, suddenly drawing his attention. He looked up at her, and then looked around to see whether anyone else was there. She didn't seem to be coming to sit with friends, so why was she here?

"Do you mind if I sit down?" She asked. The young man just gestured to the chair, not even bothering to say anything. "My name's Serendipity. Are you new here?"

"Scott." He replied. "I just started today. Serendipity, that's a nice name."

"Yeah kind of unusual I know." She responded. "My parents are total flower children. They're really into all that peace and harmony stuff. I kind of am too."

"You always talk so much to strangers?" He asked.

"Well actually I was hoping we didn't have to be strangers." She said with a little smile. "I love that accent; I take it you're from Australia."

"Good guess." He replied.

"Well, my friends are just over at the table over there." She told him, gesturing over to Colin and Charisma. "You're welcome to sit with us if you like."

Finishing off his lunch, he got up to leave. "Maybe next time." He commented.

"Do you mind if I ask what happened to your hand?" She asked as he got up.

"Do you mind if I don't answer." He replied as he turned on his heel to leave. Kicking herself a little as she made her way back to her friends, she couldn't help feeling bad about the way it went down. Obviously he didn't like to talk about whatever happened to him, she just hoped she hadn't completely blown it and he would eventually talk to her again.

"Well he seems…interesting!" Charisma finally managed to say as Dippy sat back down. "Bit rude wasn't he?"

"I wish I knew what his story is." Dippy commented.

"I'm sure if he wants to talk he will." Colin interjected. "I mean I know I would love to have a pretty young blonde sit with me when I first arrived at school."

"Thanks Colin." Dippy responded as Charisma just rolled her eyes at the display. "Oh come on, what he said was kind of sweet."

"I know, all the Celtic people are known for their charm." Colin remarked. "It's not just the Irish that have the gift of the gab."

"Just keep telling yourself that." Charisma groaned loudly as she continued to eat her lunch. "Anyway, either of you guys doing anything tonight?"

"I'll just be hanging out at my favourite café." Colin told her. "Why? Are you trying to give me a better offer?"

Charisma just gave up on him and left the table. Watching her go, Serendipity turned back to Colin. "I'm just looking over some notes." She told him. "Unless Darksoul has something to…"

"Just don't tempt fate like that." Colin interrupted her. "I'd actually quite like to get a night to myself for a change."

'Guys.' They heard Tommy's thoughts interrupt their own. 'Meet me at the gym across the street after school. Come in uniform.'

"That still takes some getting used to." Colin remarked, stroking his temple as he tried to shake off the psychic echo in his head. "What do you suppose he wants?"

"Hopefully he'll have sorted out our little transport problem." She thought aloud. "I know that I for one could do without having to run from one end of town to the other."

"It's a thought." Colin responded. "Anyway, it's almost time for home ed."

"I never would have seen you as the type to do home ed." She remarked as she gathered her things. "So you're a modern man?"

"Kind of have to be." He chuckled. "My uncle can't cook worth a crap!"

After school, the three quickly made their way to the gym across the street, simply finding a note to meet Tommy around the back parking lot. Making sure no-one was watching, they morphed before making their way around, finding Tommy standing there with a knowing grin on his face. "Glad you could make it." He greeted them. "I asked you here for a reason. Since I found out there were going to be more Power Rangers, I thought it would be best to be prepared. That's why I had a friend from back in Reefside build you these."

As he turned around, three large, powerful motorcycles in the team member's respective colours came into view, stopping a little way in front of them before a green beam of light shot forth from each of them, scanning their respective riders. "They are now attuned to your thoughts." Tommy informed them. "When you morph, you will be able to call them to you wherever you are. That should solve your current transport problems."

"They look pretty powerful." Charisma stated with a little worry in her voice. "Do you think we can handle them?"

"There's one way to find out." Tommy answered her, gesturing towards the red bike. "Better you give it a try now than wait until…"

Tommy's concentration was interrupted by an explosion from the downtown area of the city.

"Why does everyone have to tempt fate?" Colin grumbled, jumping onto his own cycle. "Well it looks like we all get a good road test today."

Colin arrived in the plaza area first, being just a little more familiar with the controls to a motorcycle through some dubious pastimes in his past. Arriving, he found Darksoul's latest daemon crony tearing up the area. The creature resembled something akin to an armadillo. Thick, bony plates covered the entirety of it's hide, while it lashed out with massive, taloned hands. It's hideous fanged face just seemed to sprout unnaturally from it's shoulders.

"I see master was not exaggerating when he told me how quickly his enemies would come to ruin our fun!" It hissed as it rounded on Colin.

"Glad to disappoint." He shouted back as he called forth his claymore. Surging forward to attack, he found himself blasted from his feet by an unseen assailant.

Lifting his helmet from the ground, he turned to see his new attacker. He was unable to see the attacker's face, which was hidden beneath a massive, horned iron helmet. He stood almost seven feet tall, and was dressed in ornate, iron armour trimmed in bronze. Carrying a sword that weaved in the air skilfully, as though with a life of it's own. Unnatural red lightning crackled around his body, dissipating into the ground.

"So, I finally get to meet these Rangers in the flesh." He goaded. "You don't seem so formidable to me."

"Give us a chance!" Charisma called out as she skidded to a halt a little way down the road, Serendipity pulling up a short way behind her. "We've only been doing this stuff about a week!"

"Well let's see if you can last to the end of the night!" He snapped back, waving the creature forward. Surging towards them, it raked it's talons across the tarmac, causing a shower of debris scattering over the girls. Colin hauled himself back to his feet, and readied his sword in the direction of the second creature.

"You must be Darksoul." Colin surmised, levelling his own large, heavy blade. "Guess it's a bit optimistic to expect we can talk about this."

"I have a human form now." Darksoul snarled, launching forward. Colin only just managed to get his blade into the path of the attack, being batted backwards by Darksoul's powerful swing. "It will only be a matter of time before I claim the Crystal."

"In case you haven't heard." Colin replied, swinging his own blade wildly, smashing aside Darksoul's weapon. "Rangers don't go down too easily."

"That's what you think!" He roared, seizing Colin roughly by the throat, and launching him through the air, smashing him through the front of a coffee house. Colin noticed a young mother and her child cowering near a table, and his mind couldn't help but drift back to that horrific day when he lost her. As his attention came back to Darksoul, he saw his eyes glow a bright green.

"Oh, I see how you let her down." Darksoul taunted him, tapping the side of his helmet with his index finger. "Your thoughts are an open book to me. I see everything. Now you can watch it happen again! Huan-Shi, energy blast at the woman. NOW!"

As the Armadillo creature turned towards the woman and her child, powering up a blast and Darksoul powered up his own blade, glaring at Colin with an evil look as he stared into his very soul, Colin sprang to his feet, sprinting across the diner.

"Yvonne!" He yelled an anguished cry as he threw himself into the full brunt of the combined energy blasts.

Charisma and Dippy watched in horror as he flew through the air, de-morphing as he crashed over the opposite side of the counter with a horrendous crash. The diners fled the coffee shop as Charisma and Serendipity tried to bring their attention back to the battle. Charisma felt a burning feeling as her shard of the crystal appeared and began to glow brightly. Suddenly she felt the words erupt from her, unsure of where she could possibly have gotten the idea to summon the power.

"Soulfire Ranger, ancient armour mode!" She called out. As the flame from the crystal engulfed her, forging a metal breastplate across her chest and massive shoulder pads of an arcane design. She found her chain weapon extended by several feet, and tipped instead of the heavy weighted spheres, with heavy cutting blades.

"Impressive power young one." Darksoul commented. "But with only two of you, it will not be enough. Huan-Shi, I tire of this battle. Finish them yourself."

"With pleasure." The creature responded, surging towards them. Serendipity was the first to act, launching into a frenzied assault with her Razor Fans before he swiped her away.

"Time to see what this thing can do!" Charisma bellowed aggressively, swinging the blades into the creature ferociously. Huan-Shi recoiled in obvious shock as the blades smashed into his armoured hide, clearly affecting the plates.

"I will be back Rangers!" He called out, taking the opportunity to fade out and disappear. Both Charisma and Dippy powered down as they rushed into the coffee house, finding Colin unconscious, buried beneath a pile of broken cups and debris.

"Colin!" Charisma screamed, trying to shake him awake. "Dippy, there's a phone over there, call an ambulance. Colin!"

As she dialled 911 to attract the medical help he'd clearly need, Dippy noticed a little red notebook on the floor. Picking it up and looking inside, she immediately recognised Colin's handwriting. She knew she shouldn't, she knew it was an invasion of privacy, but she couldn't help but thumb through the pages as she waited for an answer on the line.

Colin woke up in the hospital, feeling every inch of every bruise on his body. He looked up to find Tommy, Kira, Dippy and Charisma sitting by the edge of the bed.

"How are you feeling?" Kira asked.

"Like I was kicked through a wall." Colin answered truthfully.

"Well not quite." Charisma joked as she held his hand. "Just a coffee machine, two tables and a stack of cups."

"Anyway, you just rest up." Tommy ordered, placing a hand on his chest and pressing him back down onto the bed as Colin tried to get up. "The power stopped you being killed, and it will help you heal faster, but you still need to be careful."

Colin just ignored them as he lay on the bed unrepentant in his conviction. He was sure he'd done the right thing.

"I'll stay with him." Dippy told them as the others got up to leave.

"Fortunately the Doctors said you'd be out in a couple of hours." Tommy told him. "I managed to convince your Uncle you were helping me set up tomorrow's experiments. That should cover you until you're back on your feet."

"A couple of hours?" Colin asked weakly.

"Welcome to the downside of being a Ranger." Kira commented. "No matter how banged up you get, you still have to put in an appearance in your civilian life to avert suspicion."

"Hang on, are you talking from personal experience." Colin quipped, a slight look of surprise on his face.

"How do you think we knew so much about this stuff?" Tommy asked him. He noted the amazed looks he was getting from his students. "OK, I promise I'll explain everything tomorrow, when we all get a chance. For now, I'll leave you to it."

As the others left, Dippy turned back to Colin. "OK, I would never have picked them as Rangers." She remarked.

"Guess now we know where Dr. O learned to fight so well." He answered.

Dippy reached into her purse, pulling out his red notebook. "You dropped this during the battle." She told him, handing it back to him. Colin accepted it, the gratitude at having it returned was obvious in his face.

"Did you read it?" He asked. Dippy tried to stammer out a response, but her inability to look at Colin gave her away instantly.

"I only read a little when I was trying to figure out who it belonged to." She told him semi-truthfully. "Your poetry's really good. I'd like to read more of it sometime."

"I only write for myself." He grumbled, shoving his notebook away. They sat in an awkward silence for a moment before Dippy was able to bring up the question on her mind.

"Who's Yvonne?" She asked. "Some of your work makes reference to her, and you called her name…"

"She was the first woman I ever loved." Colin interrupted her.

"Did she love you back?" She asked.

"Unfortunately for her yes." He responded. "That's what got her killed." As Dippy just stared at him, unable to respond to what he'd just said he thought back, recalling the story. "I did a lot of things I wasn't proud of as a kid. I got involved in illegal street racing, that's how I knew how to ride."

"Is that how you met?" She asked him, placing a hand on his back, stroking it reassuringly.

"Sort of." He commented. "I needed a more powerful bike to get into the higher stakes races and make more money. That's when I met a local gang boss, Jack McArthur. He bought me a bike and paid my stakes as long as he got the lions share of the winnings. Yvonne was his daughter."

"So what happened?" She pressed on.

Colin was close to tears as he recalled more of the sorry tale. "We both fell for each other hard. We ended up dating, and things were going fine until Jack found out." He breathed a sigh thinking about it. "One night, I won the highest stake race of my career so far, and she just couldn't restrain herself and kissed me right in front of him."

"He didn't approve." She concluded.

"He told me in no uncertain terms that the relationship was to end." He replied. "But by that point we were so much in love that we couldn't stop seeing each other."

"So you kept seeing each other."

"It was more serious than that." He continued. "We planned to elope. I was booked into a huge race, big money, start over kind of money. We planned to take the money and run as soon as the race was over." He was no longer able to hold back his tears at the recollection. "Jack found out and sent her Brother after me. He beat the hell out of me pretty badly, but I loved her so much, I couldn't hurt her by fighting back. Then he pulled out a knife. Yvonne tried to stop him, but he ended up stabbing her by mistake." His voice cracked under the emotion as he concluded the tale. "The knife went into her heart. There was nothing that could be done."

"That wasn't your fault." Dippy told him.

"That's not the way McArthur saw it." Colin answered. "It's not the way I saw it. If I hadn't gotten involved with her, if I had been the one in the path of that knife…"

"Her brother killed her." Dippy reminded him. "You have to forgive yourself. You can't live the rest of your life blaming yourself for his mistake."

Their thoughts were interrupted by Dr. O.

'Guys, the Armadillo's back. And he's taken on a bit of a growth spurt if you get my drift.' He communicated to them.

'We're on our way.' Colin thought back, rolling out of his bed.

"Colin, where the hell do you think you're going?" Dippy shrieked with concern. "You need time, you need…"

"You need the Megazord." He shot back. "Last time I checked only I can call the Serpent Zord, and it's needed for the transformation."

She wasn't happy about his decision to leave the hospital, but she found it impossible to argue with his logic. She knew he was right.

"I can't do anything for Yvonne, but I can do what is needed to save those who are still alive!" He yelled, as his Soulfire Crystal appeared in his hand and began to glow more brightly than they'd ever seen it do so. Opening his hand, he noticed the missing piece of the crystal forming in the recess, completing his fragment.

'Guys, I'm already downtown.' Charisma's thoughts attracted their attention. 'The Puma zord's warrior mode is holding up, but I could really use a hand.'

"Fire of the soul IGNITE!" They yelled together, morphing into Ranger form.

Charisma found her Zord being knocked to the ground once more, power surges threatening to shut down all her systems.

"Need a hand?" She heard Colin calling as the Serpent Zord launched an assault, unbalancing the creature.

"About bloody time!" She yelled as the Condor Zord came into view, launching a barrage of missiles into the creature.

"Oh quit whining and call for the Megazord sequence!" Colin reprimanded her as the Zords came together. Forming the Megazord, they rounded on the creature, ready to attack.

"FULL POWER!" They yelled. As the Zord flew into the air, it banked sharply, the right arm of the Zord caught light, carving a burning path through the daemon. As it fell to the ground, exploding as it vanished, Colin caught sight of Darksoul standing in the street.

"Ancient armour mode!" He called out as he leapt down into the street, bringing his powered up claymore crashing through Darksoul's defence.

"Colin, wait for us!" Charimsa called out, as she also powered up and launched into an attack.

"Pathetic fools, you still do not have the power to defeat me!" He taunted them. "Why you couldn't even save your Girlfriend."

"Her death was not on my hands!" Colin yelled back. "You can't hold that over me anymore!"

"I don't have time for this." He snarled, opening his hand and presenting to them what appeared to be another fragment of the Crystal. "Not when I have other means at my disposal."

With that, he vanished leaving the three no less confused than they had been before the whole turn of events had begun.

The following day, the three teenagers couldn't focus on anything as they tried to comprehend the events of the previous day. It felt like an enormous relief when they were finally able to make their way round to Tommy's house to have everything explained to them.

"OK, we really want to hear all about the Ranger thing," Colin began, "but Darksoul said something that had us concerned."

"We don't know if he was just messing with us." Charisma explained. "But he showed us what looked like another Crystal."

Tommy showed them the tablet he'd been given by Anton, pointing out a carving. "There were originally four fragments of the Crystal, but one of them has obviously gone missing." He informed them. "According to the legend, there will be four Soulfire Rangers."

"So can he use it against us?" Serendipity asked him.

"Not directly." Tommy continued. "But if he finds someone to whom the Crystal will bond, and can convince them to fight for him, then he can unleash the power in the form of his own Ranger."

"An evil Power Ranger?" Charisma asked. "Is that even…?"

"Unfortunately, it has been known to happen." Tommy interrupted her, pre-empting her question. "And if it does happen, then you're going to have some tough times on your hands."

"Yeah, like it's been a cake walk so far." Colin groaned sarcastically.

"Anyway, you guys are doing so well, you deserve a treat." Tommy said with a smile. "This will explain everything better than just a lecture from your principal. Kira, could you bring 'the video'?"


	6. Rise of the Purple

Scott was in the living room of his father's old country house in northern Australia, sitting as he so often had by the old, antique grand piano. It had been given to his Great Grandfather as a gift from the Sydney Opera society for serving as their conductor for almost twenty years upon his retirement, and Scott had loved it dearly. He had been learning to play in his spare time from an early age, and regularly irritated his parents with his constant practice.

Stretching out his fingers, he looked onto the floor a few feet from where he was sitting, and smiled as he saw that, as usual, his little sister, Amaya sitting cross-legged on the floor, awaiting his performance. She loved to hear him play, and would always sit and listen to him while he practiced. She was the only one who was supportive of his dream to one day play professionally and would always offer him encouragement.

He began to hammer out a scale, before looking over to his sister, noting the look of annoyance on her face. He caught her with that one every time. She always hated it when he 'wasted time' with 'boring stuff' like scales as she would put it. He was an accomplished pianist, and she was more interested in hearing his 'proper music' as she'd always say.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist." He told her with a gentle laugh, ruffling her hair. "Any requests?"

"Moonlight Sonata!" She replied enthusiastically. It was by far one of her favourites, and if he was forced to admit it, it was one of his too. Giving in to her request, he began to play the second movement.

"No!" She complained loudly. "That's not how it starts! Do it right!"

"Amaya, you know as well as I do the first movement always makes you cry." He replied.

"But I love it." She protested. Scott just couldn't help but give in to her request.

The sound of his alarm clock pulled him out of the dream and back into the reality he'd had thrust on him in those hellish few months. Making his way through to the bathroom, he looked in the mirror, still completely heartbroken at the change in himself. He'd never been a vain person, nor even really given much thought to his appearance at all, but the large facial scar ruined the face he'd grown used to across the years. A tangled mass of scars criss-crossed across his torso, both from the accident, and from the most painful of nights when he'd felt so numb emotionally from the heartache, that he'd taken his pen knife to his own flesh just to make sure he could still feel anything at all.

Unravelling the heavy, supportive bandaging from his right hand, he looked again on the mass of scar tissue and ruined atrophied muscles. The surgeons had performed no less than 14 different surgeries to try and repair the damage, but so many of the muscles and tendons had been completely smashed beyond repair that they had only managed to get a basic, limited level of mobility back to his fingers. He could almost close his hand, though it caused him considerable pain if he closed it fully. It had now been nearly three months since the last surgery, and he didn't really need the bandages anymore, at least, not physically. He could barely stand to look at it himself, and he sure as hell wasn't letting anyone else see it. After his shower, he looked out a fresh bandage, wrapping it tightly, concealing once more the injury that had stolen his dreams from him forever.

Getting dressed, he made his way down the stairs to where his mom and his step-father were sitting quietly over the breakfast table.

"Morning Roy." He greeted his step-father as he sat down. He got along quite well with his step-father all things considered. He never tried to replace Scott's dad, and generally just tried to help him out whenever he could, a fact that Scott had always appreciated and which helped the transition into the new family a whole lot easier. His mother had divorced his real dad not long after the accident, and had moved in with Roy a short time later. He wasn't really that upset about being made to leave Australia, there were a lot of painful memories there and at least the people in Vegas seemed quite happy to leave him alone. If anything they seemed to outright avoid him, but that was mostly a good thing. Many of the people back home had either taken to pitying him or tormenting him, and he could really live without either.

"How are you feeling today?" His mother asked him. "Are you settling in alright at school? Are the other kids…?"

"Everything's fine mom." He interrupted her with a gesture. "It's a school. I've been to them before, it's fine." It always bothered him how much his mother had begun to fawn over him in the last few months. She'd never been all that fond of his ambitions, and he found it annoyingly hypocritical of her to be so concerned now that he wasn't playing anymore.

"Have you met any new friends at school yet?" Roy asked him.

"Not really." He answered. "Anyway, I really better be going, I'll see you tonight."

"Enjoy your day!" His mom called after him as he left. Scott just grabbed his bag and gave a casual wave over his shoulder as an afterthought. His mother watched him leave with her usual level of concern. He'd never been the same since the accident, and she found it hurtful the way he'd shut himself off from her.

"He'll be fine Lynn." Roy told her, able to read her expression without a thought. "He's just settling in here and…"

"It's more than that and you know it!" She snapped. "He hates me."

"He doesn't hate you." Roy said soothingly, making his way over to his wife and putting is arms around her. "He's still hurting. He needs time…"

"He isn't the only one who's hurting." Lynn whispered back. "I lost my little girl that day."

Scott arrived at school early, taking the opportunity to get to the library. His English teacher had told them that they were going to begin reading 'How to Kill a Mockingbird, and he wanted to check out a copy before the rest of the class did. It was always easier to do the assignments when he had his own copy of the book, and he didn't want to have to buy a copy if he didn't need to. Looking through the shelves, he found what he was looking for and reached for it, to find another hand also reaching the same book. Turning to look, he found Serendipity looking back at him.

"Great minds think alike." She commented with a smile. "Go ahead, you saw it first."

"Thanks." He said as he turned to leave.

"Maybe you can sit with us at lunch?" She suggested.

"Maybe." He responded, more as a way to get rid of her than a serious consideration of her offer. With that, he made his way to the librarian's desk.

"Talkative guy," Colin remarked as he arrived beside Dippy.

"He just got here, I just wanted to make him feel welcome." She told Colin, flicking her hair out of her face. "I know what this place is like if you don't have friends."

"Leave him to it." Colin replied. "If he doesn't want to make friends, that's his business."

"Have you guys thought any more about what Dr. O said?" Charisma asked as she arrived. "About the other Crystal fragment?"

"To be honest I've been trying not to think about it." Colin answered truthfully. "I mean, obviously if we knew where Darksoul went each night after he ruins our evening, then we could try and nab it, give it to someone who'll fight WITH us and not against us."

"I really wish we had a way to find him." Dippy agreed. "It's not a great thought that Darksoul could give it to someone to use it against us."

As the first bell rang, the three parted ways to attend their respective classes with that one thought rattling around in their minds.

Barry used one of the increasingly rare windows of opportunity when he was in control of his own mind to go into his office. He knew it was pointless to try and alert someone to the thing in his head, even if someone did believe that he thought he was possessed, they'd probably just throw him in a lunatic asylum. If he thought that would stop the creature causing any more harm, he'd probably welcome the idea but he was aware of everything the creature did when it took over him. Like sitting in the back seat of a car, he could see and hear what was going on, but he had no control over it. Being aware of how powerful the creature was, he knew that getting himself locked up would no doubt just end up with the creature escaping and no doubt killing a few of the guards and inmates on it's way out.

The thing possessing him could read the thoughts of others with a single glance, but he could also see what it did. When the creature scanned the mind of the Blue Ranger the previous night, it had seen Tommy in his thoughts, so Barry knew it was only a matter of time before it put Tommy and Kira at risk. Resolving not to allow that to happen, he wrote a coded letter. Quickly writing the message, he placed it in an envelope and put it in his secretaries' outgoing mail basket, finishing his task just in time as Darksoul once again claimed control.

"Morning Barry." His secretary greeted him, picking up the mail basket. Darksoul had read Barry's thoughts and knew what his plan was, but he couldn't retrieve the letter now. The secretary would become suspicious if he asked for it back, and killing her to retrieve it would tip his hand too early. The last thing he needed was a dead body attracting unwanted attention before he had complete control over his vessel.

"Good morning Hilary." He responded. "What's on my agenda today?"

"You're meant to call the network about getting Kira an interview on 'Good Evening Las Vegas'." She reminded him.

"Oh, right. What is it I usually bribe the network chief again?" He asked.

"A bottle of 25 year old malt." She reminded him. "I sent it yesterday."

"What would I do without you?" He asked.

"A lot less work." She shot back cheekily. "Anyway, anything I can get you while I'm out running the mail?"

"I'm alright thanks." He replied. "Anyway, I'll get that call out of the way and then I'll take off. I feel like an early one. Feel free to go home once you've finished with the outgoing mail."

"Thanks a lot." She groaned sarcastically as she left. It was the end of the month, and that meant it was time to send the usual sales figures, royalties cheques and other assorted mail to all the acts on his books. She wouldn't be getting out any earlier than normal today!

A few hours later, Scott was making his way through the streets as he headed home from another uneventful day at school, finding himself walking through the parking lot of a local supermarket. As he passed by the store, he stopped as one of the posters caught his attention, an advert for a piano recital down at a nearby theatre. He stood simply staring at the picture, imagining a time not so long ago when he'd have dreamed of it being him on that stage. He looked down at his ruined hand, finding his heart once again sinking at the realisation that his dream had been cruelly ripped from him. He didn't even notice as half a dozen shades appeared a short way from where he stood, approaching slowly.

As one of the creatures grabbed him, he reacted instinctively, twisting it's arm pinning it in place before bringing a powerful elbow raking across it's head. Turning to face the others, he pulled into a guard.

Launching into his assault, he caught the first two with a vicious barrage of punches and elbows, sending them flying. The next two approached somewhat more cautiously though they quickly found themselves hitting the tarmac as he disposed of them with practiced ease.

The final creature, however, appeared to catch him a little unawares, grabbing him in a front face lock, squeezing and wrenching at his throat in an attempt to choke him into submission. Grabbing the creature's legs, he bridged over backwards, driving the creature into the tarmac powerfully, continuing to roll with the momentum, he regained his feet, and launched himself into the air, bringing both feet down into the creature's chest.

He surveyed the scene around him as the shades simply vanished into nothingness. His confusion was not helped as he saw a man wearing highly ornate, dark metal armour approaching him applauding.

"Normally people would run away." The stranger announced. "You may call me Darksoul. You truly are an exceptional warrior."

Scott turned to leave, however the stranger seemed to move with supernatural speed, appearing in front off him. "I believe you dropped this." He remarked, presenting him with a familiar gold locket. Quickly checking under his shirt, Scott realised it must have come off during the fight.

"Give that back to me!" He yelled. "Give it to me now or I swear…"

"I had no intention of keeping it." The stranger replied, handing it to him. "You seem like a man that's lost a lot in his life Scott."

"How did you know my name?" He asked a little confused.

"I know how hard it is to lose someone close to you." He pressed on ignoring Scott's question. "You lost much of the use of your hand, and with it the ability to pursue your dream. You also lost your sister, which is why you don't compete in martial arts tournaments anymore. Shame really, such a waste of an exceptional talent."

"What are you a fight promoter or something?" He asked. "The costume's a little much, and I've told other promoters. I don't do solo fights. I'm a team competitor."

"Don't you need a partner to fight in a team?" Darksoul asked as Scott made to leave. Extending his hand, a beam of light shot out and struck the ground a little way from where he stood. Scott almost collapsed in disbelief at what he saw when the light faded.

"Hi bro." Amaya said to him. "Miss me?"

"It's not possible!" He breathed as he headed towards her. "You died in that car accident." He approached her slowly, and tried to touch her, finding his hand passing through her.

"She does not yet have a corporeal form." Darksoul informed him. "She is only the spirit of your sister. Only you will be able to see and hear her. I do not have the power to bring her back, but there is something which does."

"What?" Scott asked. "I'll do anything."

"The Soulfire Crystal." Darksoul stated matter-of-factly. "If the Power Rangers are destroyed, then their shards of the Soulfire Crystal will return to their energised state. When all the pieces are re-united, their combined power will be more than sufficient to open a gateway between this world and the next. Say to return a loved one from the dead?"

"Is that possible?" He asked.

"With the power of the Soulfire Crystal, anything's possible." Darksoul told him. "Why, after returning your sister, it might even still have enough power to return your hand to it's original state."

"So what do you want from me?" He inquired as he thought about everything Darksoul had told him.

Darksoul presented the fragment of the Crystal to him. Scott marvelled at it as the shard began to glow brightly. "I cannot use the power of this Crystal myself. But you can. It will allow you to transform into a Power Ranger." Scott took the shard, and watched as it sunk into the palm of his hand, and a faint, purple aura surrounded his body before fading. "If you use the power of that shard to destroy the Rangers, and re-unite the Soulfire Crystal, then I will use it's power to return Amaya to you. All I ask in return is that once you do, you turn the crystal over to me to do with as I see fit."

"Please Bro." Amaya begged him. "I want to come home to you and mom. I want to hear you play again."

The conundrum played in his mind. On one hand, he had been told that the Crystal could return his beloved sister Amaya to him. On the other hand he had also just been asked to destroy the Power Rangers. Weren't they the good guys? He hadn't seen or heard much about them, but he knew that they had saved the city a couple of times since they'd turned up. He looked deep into his sister's eyes and made his decision.

"I'll do it." He began. "Fire of the soul. IGNITE!"

As flame engulfed him, and dissipated just as quickly, he found himself standing in a purple bodysuit with a white chest, on which the pattern of a three-tiered cross was displayed. Looking in the shop window at his reflection he saw the helmet was patterned after a Dragon, with the visor set into it's fanged mouth. Looking over at his sister, he saw her standing in a black outfit of an otherwise identical design. He found to his surprise that his hand no longer hurt. Flexing and relaxing his fingers a few times, he realised that in his morphed form, the full range of motion had returned to him.

"Looking good bro." She complimented him, clapping a hand on his shoulder.

"You're alive?" He asked a little confused. "I thought you said you couldn't do that?"

"The additional power of your Crystal fragment allows her to assume a corporeal form while you're in you're Ranger form." Darksoul informed him. "That should even the score a little. Three on two sounds a lot better than three on one doesn't it?"

"I never thought I'd fight by your side again." Scott said with obvious emotion. "Now all we need is to find the Rangers."

The following day, Tommy picked up the mail, sorting through it as Kira sat feeding the twins. He threw the usual stack of bills onto the coffee table, resolving to deal with them later. He found one envelope addressed to Kira.

"Here you are." Tommy addressed his wife, handing her the envelope. Kira opened it and unfolded the letter inside.

"What is it?" Tommy asked her.

Kira handed it back to him, completely confused. "It's complete gibberish." She commented. "No idea what it's all about."

Tommy took a look at it.

'sonabiodyepwdunvabratstgenehrhissrdiekinotmynlyssmayodpisaekmuamkonteimnenuehnnagb'

"No idea either." He commented throwing it into onto the table beside the bills. "Anyway, hopefully Darksoul won't start anything today. I'm sure the kids would appreciate one day without having to battle any daemons."

At the end of the school day, the three Rangers were sharing a little joke as they headed for the theatre. Colin's uncle always made them feel welcome, (except the one time they walked in on him throwing knives at another bad review and decided to leave) and they often just went round there to hang out. Dippy's parents were fine with it as long as she didn't stay too late, and Charisma just didn't care if her dad liked it or not. Suddenly they got stopped in their tracks as they watched what appeared to be a Purple Ranger tearing up the street.

"Ok, I'm going to go out on a limb and say Darksoul's found someone to be his evil Ranger." Charisma commented. Checking around to make sure no one was watching, they morphed before coming to face him.

"If you want to be a Ranger," Charisma yelled, attracting his attention, "Make sure you fight on the right side."

"Yeah, we DEFEND people." Colin interjected. "We don't attack them and scare them away."

"I had no intention of harming innocents." Scott answered as a naginata appeared ni his right hand. "But since you only seem to show up when someone's tearing up the town and I have no idea as to your civilian identities, this was the most efficient way of finding you."

"Well you've found us." Charisma answered as the three prepared their weapons. "Now are you going to give up? Unless you haven't noticed, there's three of us and one of you."

"Two actually," he replied, "look behind you."

"Yeah, like we're really going to fall for that!" Serendipity shot back.

All of a sudden, Amaya flipped over their heads, landing in front of the team before taking them all down with a massive arcing swipe of her own naginata.

"Told you." Scott replied sarcastically as the team hauled themselves back to their feet. "Good job sis."

"Let's take them down." Amya barked. "We need to get those Crystals for master Darksoul."

"If you're siding with him, then you obviously aren't on the right side." Colin shot out as he called surged forward, swinging his claymore. Scott ducked the first swing, then swatted aside his second before scoring a trio of telling slashes across his chest before kicking him away with a powerful back kick.

"Too easy." He commented. "You have no style whatsoever Blue Ranger, do you even know HOW to fight?"

"Give me a break." Colin answered back, coming back to his feet. "I've only been training a week and a half."

"Longer than this one." Amaya sneered as she sent Serendipity flying. "This one doesn't know anything."

"Wanna try me on for size?" Charisma asked, swinging her chain weapon in a powerful arc. Placing the haft of his pole-arm weapon in it's path, the chain wrapped around it. Scott then pulled sharply, causing Charisma to stumble towards him, where Amaya caught her with a massive spinning slash, sending her to the ground.

"You're up bro." She yelled. Scott launched himself into the air, turning the point of his weapon's blade downwards and aiming for Charisma's heart. She barely rolled aside in time as it rebounded off the concrete.

"Step it up a notch?" Colin asked her.

"You know it." Charisma answered.

"Ancient armour mode." They chorused together, turning into their powered up state.

"You are so getting your arse kicked now!" Colin shouted.

"Oh we're so scared." Amaya stated. "But you aren't the only ones with that trick up your sleeve." With that, both the Purple and Black Rangers also powered up into ancient armour mode, each gaining an additional blade at the other end of their weapons in addition to their armour.

"Full Power!" Amaya and Scott chorused together, slashing at Colin and Charisma aggressively, de-morphing them and leaving them lying.

"Ah so that's who you two are." Scott commented seeing them in their civilian mode. "Well that's one mystery that isn't going to matter much longer. Not since we're about to destroy you."

"That's what you think." Colin stated as he grabbed Charisma and teleported with her behind Dippy, grabbing her too he teleported again across one street allowing the three to retreat.

"So those are the mighty Rangers?" Amaya asked. "I'm almost glad they got away. It'll give us another chance to kick their butts before we get their Crystals."

"Indeed." Scott interjected. "Next time, we'll take care of them."

The three arrived at Tommy's house a little after six to explain what happened. Tommy began stroking his temples as he thought about the new development.

"You're certain there were two." He commented.

"Unless he hit us so hard we all saw double." Colin replied. "Since we saw two of them before they attacked us, I'd say that's unlikely."

"Well I don't know how there's two of them, there's only one more fragment." He reiterated the point from the tablet. "But whatever the case, you'll still have to defeat them."

They sat for a second in silence as they considered their options. Whoever the new Rangers were, they were good. They'd handed the team their first major defeat. Colin suddenly broke the moment as he noticed the letter on the table.

"Who sent you a coded message?" He asked as he finished counting the characters.

"It's just gibberish." Tommy said, waving it off. "Ignore it."

"No, it's a code. The Perfect Square Cypher." He said with authority.

"What are you talking about?" Dippy asked him. "How do you know?"

"Yvonne and I sent messages to each other using this code all the time when we were dating." He told them. "The code works like this. You write a message with a square number of letters in it. In this case 81."

He drew a 9 by 9 grid on a sheet of paper. "Then you make a grid like this."

He began writing the letters in from left-to-right in the grid. "When the message is written initially, it's written not from left-to-right, but from top to bottom. Then when it's being coded, the letters are written in the order they appear ACROSS the grid. Then you write them in a single line without spaces so that it appears to be complete gibberish to anyone that doesn't understand the code."

He finally wrote it out correctly,

'Sparkyiknowthissoundsinsanebutsomethingstakenovermymindandyoumaybeindangerhelpmeb'

"Now all I have to do is split it into words that make sense." He told them. Writing it out with the spaces inserted, he finally showed them the message.

'Sparky I know this sounds insane but something's taken over my mind and you may be in danger. Help me B.'

"Do you know anyone named B" He asked.

"There's only one person that calls me Sparky." Kira gasped at the realisation. "It's from Barry."

"Unfortunately we now know who Darksoul's possessed." Tommy said with regret. "Barry is Kira's producer. He's a friend of ours."

"So how do we separate them?" Charisma asked him.

"I have no idea." Tommy replied honestly.


	7. Serendipity's Pain: Part One

The following morning was not in the slightest a pleasant one as Dippy awoke to the worst attack of arthritis she'd had in ages. Tears streamed down her face as she pulled herself up out of bed, not even able to really rise, more just sort of rolling to the edge of her bed and allowing it's height to get her onto her feet. Her back and her hands burned worse than they had in a long time, and it took all her inner strength just to make it as far as the living room.

"Sweetheart!" Her mother yelled as she sprinted to her side, helping her daughter to the table. "Why didn't you call me? I could have brought your tea to you."

Serendipity didn't answer. She juts seized the mug of relieving cannabis-laced tea with the enthusiasm of a starving beggar and took a long gulp. She hated being so frail and helpless. It always made her so angry at herself and her own body for inflicting this suffering on her. She sat and sobbed a little as she flexed her hands a little, trying to regain the motion in them.

"Do you want me to call Dr. Oliver?" Her mother asked her. "I can let him know you aren't going to be…"

"I'm going mom." Dippy interrupted her, sweeping her face of tears. "Don't try and stop me."

"Look honey, we know you love school, but going in when you're like this is lunacy." Her father protested.

"Damn it all dad, it's bad enough I'm a cripple!" She snapped back at him. "The one thing I still have that works is my brain, I'm not going to waste it by skipping school every time I feel a little sore."

It always took everything her mother had in her not to start crying when her daughter called herself a 'cripple'. Her arthritis had taken a lot from her, and her mother hated how it made her feel. Not physically, she was getting used to the stiffness and the pain, but emotionally. She had given up on a lot of aspirations because of her condition.

"You could barely make it into the living room." Her mother said soothingly as she stroked her hair out of her face. "It's obvious you're in no condition to go today."

"I'm feeling a bit better now." She told them. "Besides you and I both know that you and Dad have to leave before me, and the moment you do I'm going out that door and going to school."

Her mother cursed her decision to raise her daughter to be so stubborn and independent. They wanted her to be able to stand up for herself, but at times this meant she could be quite pig-headed and a little unreasonable when it came to her condition.

"Well promise me you'll call us to pick you up and take you home if things get worse." Her father told her. He shot a glare into her eyes to make sure she didn't try to avoid the request. "This isn't one of those promises I expect you to ignore the second you make it. I'm serious, call me at the market if you feel worse."

Serendipity nodded wordlessly as she drank more tea. This was what she hated more than anything. Her arthritis had been diagnosed when she was 13, and while it was inconvenient, she was getting used to the pain physically, it was the feeling of helplessness on her worse days she hated more than anything. Before her mother and father started acquiring her 'tea' for her, there were days she was virtually incapable of leaving the house. She stretched the kinks out of her back as she sat at the table, sipping away on the soothing concoction.

"I really wish you would reconsider." Her mother whispered in her ear as she hugged her daughter before leaving the house. She knew it was pointless to argue, her mind was made up and one way or another she was going to school.

Arriving at the school a little while before the bell, She made her way over to her locker, opening the door to acquire her first period's text books, and her eyes were once more drawn to that picture. Her mom and dad had taken all her other pictures when her condition was diagnosed, reasoning that reminding their daughter what she had lost would only upset her, but Dippy always loved to remember those happier times before the pain plagued her.

She took the picture down and remembered the pride of that day. At one time she had been an accomplished athlete. She specialised in long-distance running and had won many competitions. The photo depicted the day when she had won her first gold in an inter-school championship. Her coaches constantly insisted she apply for athletics scholarships, she had actually been accepted to many prestigious schools and some of her coaches even had hopes for her one day competing in the Olympics.

However, that all came crashing down when she started getting the pains in her back. She had to give up more and more time training, and pretty much all of the scholarships she'd earned vanished overnight when word spread about her condition. Eventually she'd given up on training altogether. What was the point? There were so few times she could even train, much less compete and she knew she'd never compete at the top level again.

A few warm tears came to her face as she placed the photo back into her locker, retrieving her books. Maybe her parents were right after all. Maybe all holding onto those pictures did was upset her needlessly, reminding her of everything she'd lost.

"Hey there Dippy." Charisma greeted her as she came to her side. Dippy tried in vain to hide her face, but Charisma had already noticed her tears. "What's all this about?"

"I'm just having a rough morning." She replied, wiping her face. "I had a monster pain attack when I was waking up."

"Why did you come today?" Charisma asked her as she placed an arm around her. "Colin or I could have given you your assignments; no one would blame you for spending the day at home."

"Please, school's one of the few things this cripple can still actually do." She grumbled. "I'm not going to give that up too."

"You shouldn't keep calling yourself that." Charisma told her as they walked towards their first class.

"Why not? It's what I am." She sniffed as they arrived.

It upset Charisma when she got like this. She hated it when her friend was so upset, and her habit of beating herself up over her shortcomings only made her feel worse. As she sat at her desk, ready to start her first class, she had another glance over to where Serendipity was sitting. She'd give anything to take her pain away.

At lunch time, Colin and Charisma were sitting outside, taking advantage of Vegas' favourable climate as they enjoyed their lunch. Serendipity went to her locker to get her wallet before joining them, bumping into Scott as she neared her locker. He dropped the book he was carrying as she did this.

"I'm so sorry." She shot out as she bent down to collect it. Scott noticed her wincing with discomfort as she did this, but didn't think much of it. She handed him back his book, thinking that she hadn't really bumped into him that hard.

"I lost my grip." He commented as she handed him back the book.

"What's up with your hand?" She asked him.

"I injured it in an accident quite a while back." He told her. "I have limited mobility according to the doctors. My grip isn't what it was."

"That's a real hassle." She replied. "There are some days I can barely hold my pen in class."

"But you're fine." He remarked.

"Just because I don't have bandages doesn't mean I'm fine." She told him. "Arthritis." She explained.

Scott felt a little bad as she said this. He'd put his foot in it this time. "Sorry, I didn't know." He responded.

"It's not like I advertise the fact." She told him. "Anyway, my friends and I are going to be outside. You're welcome to join us if you like."

Amaya appeared behind Dippy, and attracted his attention. "You know who she normally hangs around with." She commented. "This could be an opportunity to find out more about them. Maybe even give us ideas how to destroy them."

Scott heard what she'd said and came to the same conclusion himself. "I think I'd like that." He commented with a smile. "Just give me a minute to get my stuff together."

"We'll be right out front." She told him. "See you out there."

Scott watched her go, and thought about the irony that he would literally be eating with the enemy.

"Well I'll soon have access to the Red and Blue Rangers." He said as Amaya drew closer. "That just leaves the yellow one's identity a mystery."

"Small details." Amaya answered. "I fought with her the last time and she is by far the weakest one. If we take out one or both of the others, it will only be a matter of time before she falls."

"Then you can return to me and mom." He remarked. "Time to go meet the others."

He made his way outside, his attention being grabbed by Serendipity's enthusiastic wave. He made his way over to the other Rangers, taking a seat by a large horse chestnut tree just inside the grounds.

"Dippy tells us your name's Scott." Colin greeted him, offering a handshake. Noting the bandage, he quickly realised his mistake and switched to his left hand for the gesture. "Sorry, I didn't think."

Scott looked at his outstretched hand thoughtfully for a few seconds. Deciding he didn't want to risk tipping his hand too early, he accepted the handshake. "Scott. Thanks for inviting me to sit with you."

"Well Dippy wanted to introduce you to us earlier." Charisma informed him, also extending a hand. "We all know from experience what this place can be like if you don't have a few friends."

"Don't remind me." Colin laughed as they talked about it. "Brad still looks like a mummy."

"Sorry about being so rude when you first approached me, I find it a little hard to let people in. Usually they take one look at me and decide I'm their pet charity case." He replied. "Anyway, Brad, is he the big kid with the nose brace?" Scott asked. Colin just nodded to confirm this. "Nice job. You must know how to take care of yourself."

"Well Charisma's the real expert." Colin told him. "I just started training with the guy from the gym across the street a couple of weeks ago. I'm getting into it, I never did anything like this before."

Scott suddenly caught on to an idea. This was an opportunity to separate the Blue Ranger from his friends. "Well I used to train in Martial Arts myself." Scott informed him. "My sister and I used to compete in team events all the time back home. Three times national champions. I could give you a few pointers if you like."

"Sure, if you don't mind." Colin answered. "How about after school? I could meet you on the soccer pitch."

"No problem." Scott answered smiling to himself.

"Nice job Bro." Amaya complimented him as she made her way over behind Charisma. Scott had to remind himself that they couldn't see or hear her, otherwise he might have given the game away by addressing her.

"So you have a sister?" Dippy asked, remembering Scott mentioning her. "Does she come here too?"

"She died a few months ago." He informed her, breathing a small sigh. "It happened in the same accident that did this." He raised his hand a little.

"Oh I'm sorry!" She gasped hearing him say this. "I didn't mean anything by it…"

"It's ok." He interrupted her. "You didn't know."

"Anyway, I've got to go." Charisma informed the others. "Dippy, is the offer of help with my Spanish after school still open?"

"Of course." She replied. "I'll just walk you to your next class."

As Dippy and Charisma left, Colin gathered his few things together. "I should be making my way too." He remarked as he turned to leave. "I guess that training session's going to be just us."

"Just the way I want it." Scott replied under his breath. Amaya watched Colin leave before turning to her Brother.

"Why are you letting him leave?" She asked. "You can ambush him now, while he doesn't expect it."

"Trust me sis." Scott retorted as he got up to leave. "This afternoon will be the perfect opportunity to get him just where we want him."

At the end of the day, Colin said his farewells to Dippy and Charisma, leaving them in the library. He made his way out into the soccer field, looking around for Scott. He knew he'd told him TODAY after school, he was certain of it. Checking his watch once more, he found himself being aggressively thrown backwards by a powerful attack from behind. Looking up, he found both the Purple and Black Rangers standing before him, weapons at the ready.

"What did you do with Scott?" He yelled as he regained his feet. "Where is he?"

"Sorry, your tutor isn't coming." Scott replied sarcastically. "But if you really want a lesson in combat I'll be more than happy to comply."

"Two on one?" Scott remarked, nodding in Amaya's direction. "You bad guys really are all alike."

"As if he needs my help." She responded, sitting down on the grass. "Bro, I think I'll let you handle this one."

Powering up his blade, Scott blasted Colin back into the goalmouth. "Oh I didn't like you before." Colin stated as he got back up. "But now you're seriously pissing me off! Fire of the soul IGNITE!"

Morphing into Ranger form, he called forth his claymore, swinging it in large, powerful arcs. Scott dodged a couple of swings before attempting to block one blow, though finding himself staggered by the surprising power behind the weapon.

"Underestimated the weight?" Colin commented as he pressed the advantage, striking him a telling blow across the chest and sending him to the floor. Colin brought the weapon overhead preparing to bring it scything down on his prone opponent.

"Heavy weapons can be both a help and a hinderance." He roared as he caught Colin's leg with his feet, forcing him to the ground as he lurched in the backswing. Springing to his feet, he powered up his naginata preparing to bring it down into his ribcage.

"Ancient armour mode!" Colin yelled in the nick of time, calling the armour in time to dissipate the force of the blow. Rolling back to his feet, Colin prepared for another offensive.

"Like I said. We all have that trick." Scott commented as his powered up mode activated.

In his office, Tommy's attention was grabbed as he heard the racket outside. Moving over to his window, he peered out and saw the battle taking place.

'Guys, Colin's being attacked by the Purple Ranger at the soccer pitch.' Tommy thought, communicating Colin's plight to the others.

"He was supposed to meet Scott there." Dippy remembered. "I hope he's ok."

"Well lets morph before we get there." Charisma suggested as they sprinted from the library. "Just in case he's still there."

Arriving at the pitch a short time later, finding Colin being battered into submission by Scott's superior skill.

"Looks like your friends decided to join us after all." Scott commented as they appeared. "If you would be so kind."

"No problem bro." Amaya replied, flipping to her feet and charging towards them. Scoring a telling blow across Dippy's chest, she rounded on Charisma, bringing her weapon to bear. "Fancy another round?"

"Let's dance!" She yelled back, launching an attack with her chain weapon. Ducking it with ease, Amaya brought her weapon around, slicing upwards through Charisma's defence.

"You really haven't figured it out, have you?" She hissed aggressively. "You're no match for us."

"Guys, much as we're not meant to escalate a conflict," Colin began, "I say we bust out the Zords and do a little dance number on their skulls."

"Probably not the worst suggestion." Dippy replied. "This doesn't seem to be working too well."

Calling forth the Zords, they quickly formed the Soulfire megazord, taking the controls.

"We don't want to fight you." Charisma called from the cockpit. "But if you force our hand, we will use this."

"Oh look sis, they've got a new toy!" Scott taunted them.

"Guess it's time we showed them ours." She commented. As the three Rangers stared on, a massive statue of a dragon erupted from the ground. A huge construct with a massive, catlike body consisting of four legs, the hind ones larger than the fore legs. Huge wings sprouted from it's shoulders casting an awesome shadow. It had a long, serpentine neck which was topped by a huge, horned head with a massive jaw. Shuddering ominously for a few seconds, it slowly turned into a purple metal construct and sprang to life.

'Dr. O are you seeing this?' Colin thought.

'A hundred plus foot metal dragon in the middle of the soccer pitch?' He thought back. 'Kind of hard to miss.'

The dragon zord spun around, bringing it's huge, spiked tail smashing into the chestplate of the megazord.

"Ok, so we can say it packs a punch." Charisma commented.

"We have more tricks than that." Scott yelled from his cockpit. "Inferno blast NOW!"

A massive column of flame leapt forth from the zord's mouth, engulfing the soulfire megazord. Power fluctuations caused the zord to fall to the ground.

"I am so having a crappy day!" Colin snarled, mashing his fist down onto the controls. "Serpent strike. FULL POWER!"

Launching the energy attack, it impacted powerfully with the massive robot, causing it to stagger. "Time for our last little surprise." Scott called out. "Warrior mode!"

They watched as the zord assumed a vertical stance on it's hind legs, which extended a little to give it a more humanoid appearance. The feet on it's forelegs folded inward revealing working hands and extended a little. The neck recoiled into it's chest, and it's lower jaw swung open revealing a mechanical face inside it's mouth. As the transformation completed, a huge spear appeared in it's hands.

"Oh this can't be good." Charisma groaned. The dragon zord launched itself high into the air, spinning quickly.

"Dragon spear tornado strike!" Scott screamed as the attack connected. The controls of the megazord failed and it initiated it's fade out sequence, retreating to where they could initiate self-repairs. The three teenagers found themselves strewn on the ground as the two evil Rangers leapt out of the zords and approached menacingly.

"We can't give up." Charisma yelled, hauling herself back to her feet.

"Do yourselves a favour and stay down." Scot snapped as he leapt forward, slashing wildly at both Charisma and Colin.

Amaya launched into a whirlwind of attacks, scoring several slashed across Dippy's chest, de-morphing her. Only aware of her vulnerable state briefly, she was then struck in the face with the haft of Amaya's pole arm weapon, before a powerful spin-kick connected with her temple, knocking her out cold. The Black Ranger bent down, picking Serendipity's prone, unconscious body over her shoulder before turning to leave.

"Leave them bro." She commanded. "We can come back for the others later. Let's get this one to Darksoul's dimensional nexus."

"Sorry we can't play anymore." He remarked, powering up his blade one last time and blasting both his remaining opponents, leaving them on the ground as they de-morphed. "But we have a little project waiting for the yellow one."

"Her shard of the crystal will soon be ours." Amaya taunted them as a portal appeared behind them. "Then we will come for yours."

Colin and Charisma could only watch helplessly as they stepped through the portal, taking their friend with them.

"Serendipity!" Charisma called out, the weight of their defeat weighing heavily on her heart. The two evil Rangers had told them that they planned to retrieve her shard of the crystal, and they were both well aware there was only one way that could be achieved.


	8. Serendipity's Pain: Part Two

Colin and Charisma arrived back in Tommy's office a little while after the battle, still nursing their injuries. Charisma in particular had taken the defeat hard. Colin placed an arm around her shoulders as they took a seat opposite their mentor.

"What happened?" Tommy asked them in a soothing, non-judgemental tone.

"We failed her." Charisma breathed, barely audible as she talked into her chest. "They took Dippy and it's my fault she's in danger."

"Hey, don't beat yourself up." Colin whispered to her. "I was there too remember? They caught us off-guard."

"Colin's right." Tommy told the dejected young woman. "The crystals would never have chosen you if you weren't up to the job. It chose you as Red Ranger, leader of the team for a reason."

"But I failed." She reiterated the point. "I don't deserve this power; none of the other Rangers would have failed so disastrously. None of the others…"

"Trust me, everyone makes mistakes." Tommy reassured her. "I've personally been kidnapped by some evil creature so many times it's getting ridiculous. Rangers occasionally fall into the grasp of their enemies. It's an occupational hazard. What matters is what you do about it."

"But they want to reclaim her crystal." Charisma informed him. "We know there's only one way they can do that. What if…?"

"If you even start to think like that, then she's already lost." Tommy interrupted her. "We need to stay positive. The most useful thing we can do now is try to figure out a way to find her, and bring her back."

Charisma thought about it for a minute and tried to remember the final, fateful moments of the battle. She remembered seeing the Black Ranger picking her up, the Purple Ranger's attack. Before they left, she said something. "She told the Purple Ranger to leave us behind." She recalled. "She said they were taking her to Darksoul's dimensional nexus."

Tommy immediately reached into the drawer of his desk, and pulled out some large, aging books. "I got a colleague, Rose Ortiz, to Fed-ex me these from London." Tommy explained. "Anton's tablet only told me the basics of the legend, but I figured if it was an ancient legend, then it would have been passed on by more than one source."

"So other people would have researched it." Colin concluded. "But they're legends…"

"So they'll be based, at least partly, in fact." Tommy interrupted him. "Since the tablets have done alright by us so far I think it's worth a shot."

"Guess we've got some after-school reading to do." Charisma stated. "You two make a start, I'll do the ring-around of our families to tell them we're studying somewhere."

Serendipity slowly came to, her body aching and her head pounding after the severe beating she had taken at the hands of the evil Rangers. Reaching up to stroke the painful, raised welt on the side of her face, she became aware of a pair of heavy, steel shackles securing her wrists together. Between them, a single length of chain ran across the dusty floor of the room she was lying in. Following it, she found the other end securely fastened to a large steel ring connected to the wall. She already knew it was a futile gesture, but she struggled against the restraints, and tugged sharply on the chain tethering her to the wall to assess their strength, finding that they were quite secure. She was going nowhere anytime soon.

She instead decided to look around the room, taking in her surroundings in the hope of finding some other means of escape. The walls appeared to be made of heavy, ancient stone. On one wall, a simple door made of simple, iron bars blocked what appeared to be the only exit. Pulling herself onto her feet, she made her way over to the door and looked through the bars, seeing a set of keys hanging on a hook across the hall from her. 'Bingo' she thought. Concentrating hard on the keys, she attempted to use her telekinesis to bring them to her, but found that nothing was happening. Finding this curious, she attempted to morph, but again found to her surprise that nothing happened.

"Awww, did the big brave hero lose her powers?" The Black Ranger taunted her as she approached the cell door. "This is Darksoul's personal dimensional nexus. No-one has powers here unless he allows it. That's why all the souls sacrificed in his name can never leave. No-one comes in or out without his permission, and nothing happens here without his say-so."

"What do you want with me?" She asked, already knowing the answer, but hoping to get an explanation as to why they were waiting as opposed to just getting it over with.

"We want to unify the Soulfire Crystal." Amaya responded. "If you're wondering why we didn't just destroy you when we had the chance, think about it. What do you really think your friends are going to do?"

'Not good!' Dippy thought to herself. 'They'll have to come in here powerless if they want to try and rescue me.' "Darksoul wants the Crystal." Dippy told her. "What do you really think will happen to you once he has it?"

"That is none of your concern weakling." Amaya yelled, grabbing Serendipity by the throat and launching her backwards into the cell and onto the floor. "Oh and don't worry, you won't have to wait long before we destroy you."

Colin and Tommy had been reading for a while before Charisma came back into the room. "Skiving are you?" Colin asked her, noting the length of her absence.

"My dad insists on lecturing me, even over the phone." She groaned, sitting down. "I'd rather have been reading, trying to get her back, but dad seems to think I'm off somewhere getting drunk or high or something."

"He does understand the whole 'straight edge' thing, right?" Colin asked her. She just shook her head as she opened one of the books on the table.

"I think I've found something." Tommy told them, placing his own book in front of them. "It says that in ancient times, Darksoul and his followers would take prisoners to a place called the spiritual nexus."

"But he said…"

"The ancient Incans probably didn't understand the concept of dimensions." Tommy interrupted Colin's protest. "It was a sacrificial chamber of Darksoul's own design. They have no record of it's design, because those who were taken there never left." He paused with a look of concern on his face. "In this life, or the next. Darksoul somehow found a way to trap the souls of those he sacrificed there. It was also said that the power of these souls gave him fantastic abilities in that chamber."

"Such as?" Charisma asked.

"It is said that even the mightiest warriors were unable to fight his legions in the nexus." Tommy told them. "Given past experience with dimensional holding cells, I'd recommend you don't count on having your powers there."

"How do you know that?" Colin asked him as he considered the daunting prospect of facing the evil Rangers without powers.

"I don't KNOW if that's the case here," Tommy began with a little worry in his voice, "but I was once taken to a holding cell called the Dark Dimension by Goldar, one of Rita's goons." He recalled the incident. "There I couldn't morph. If the Dimensional Nexus is similar, then the same rules MIGHT apply."

"So what's our plan?" Colin continued the line of questioning. "Last time we got our butts kicked WITH our powers."

"First we have to find this dimension and gain access to it." Tommy began his explanation. "My friend Hayley, the one who built your bikes, is scanning for Soulfire energy across multiple dimensions."

"Even if we find where she is…?" Charisma began to ask, but Tommy pre-empted her question.

"Hayley managed to salvage the remains of Mesagog's invisa-portal technology." He interrupted her. "We should be able to generate enough energy to create a portal for a short length of time between there and here if we find the Dimensional Nexus."

"So what if we don't have our powers there?" Colin asked, bringing the conversation back to his original concern.

"Then we just have to grab her and get out quickly." Charisma answered. "But one way or another, we have to get her out of there."

"A rescue mission with no opportunity for re-con." Colin thought aloud. "sounds like it'll be yet another fun show-down."

"Trust me, I've done this before." Tommy stated. "It's not strategically a great plan, but at present, it's all we've got, and desperation and adrenaline are powerful allies."

Dippy sat in her cell, again inspecting her shackles, trying to figure out if there was some way she could remove them, when her thoughts were interrupted by an unusual sound. Certainly not anything she'd expect to hear in a place like this, music, piano music, Beethoven's moonlight sonata, the first movement. She got to her feet and moved to the door, peering through the bars and noticing the Purple Ranger sitting in front of a large, black piano. She stood, listening to the sombre, soulful tune as he continued, completely oblivious to her presence.

As he finished the first movement, she couldn't help but applaud the skilful rendition of the classical piece, drawing his attention.

"I'm sorry to interrupt." She told him, looking over at her captor. "It's just that you played so beautifully. Please, continue."

"What's the use?" He shot back, inspecting his right hand thoughtfully. "It will not be long before I am required to do battle once more."

Serendipity shoved her hands through the bars, presenting her shackles to him. Seeing he wasn't looking in her direction, she rattled them against the bars so he would understand her request. "Could you take these off please?" She asked hopefully. She could see that he wasn't moving and realised what he was thinking. "The door's still locked. I know you're not going to release me, it's pointless to ask it's just that…" She paused as she thought about it. She hated to seem so weak and vulnerable to her captor, but this might be her only way to get rid of the restraints. "Please, they're really hurting my wrists. I'm not going anywhere; do you really have to leave them on?"

Scott thought about it for a while. They were going to destroy her eventually anyway, so what did it matter if she was comfortable? Of course, she had a point. It's not as if she had anywhere to run to inside her cell. He considered it for a second, and then he picked up the key and turned to make his way over to the cell. He was stopped in his tracks as he looked into her face, recognising her. He knew his sister's attacks had de-morphed and knocked out the Yellow Ranger. It had been Amaya that had taken her, he had been so distracted by his own opponents he never saw who she was, and it was Amaya that put her in the holding cell. "Serendipity?" He asked, the surprise evident in his voice.

Dippy looked a little puzzled as he said this. "You…You know me, don't you?" She forced out as she tried to think of anything familiar about him.

Scott didn't answer her, knowing he'd already revealed more than he wanted to. He crossed the room, taking her hands in his right, and unlocked her shackles, before tossing them back into the rear of the cell.

"Thank you." Dippy said, rubbing her wrists to restore the feeling in them. 'He's left handed.' She thought to herself, noticing he used his left hand to operate the key. 'It's not much to go on, but it's a start.' "You played really well. Have you played long?"

"I played for most of my life." Scott answered her, involuntarily flexing his hand as he said this.

'He said that in the past tense, he doesn't play anymore.' Dippy mused as she picked up on his verbal slip. "You call your partner 'sis'." She commented. "I guess you're family."

Scott shifted a little uneasily as she said this. Dippy decided that it was best not to pursue any more questions about the Black Ranger, lest she lose this rare opportunity to learn more about her captor. She had seen enough films and read enough fiction novels to know that you were supposed to try and build a rapport with your kidnapper. If nothing else, it made it harder for them to execute the prisoner when the time came. "You said you want to claim the Crystal." She interjected. "It isn't going to matter much if you tell me. If you don't mind me asking, what do you want it for?"

"Darksoul has told me that the Crystal has the power to return to me everything that was taken from me." He replied, again involuntarily flexing his right hand. This time she picked up on the subtle gesture. "I would give anything to have it all back."

"I'm sorry for your loss." She said, pressing the matter. "But you know there's only one way to separate us from our shards of the Crystal. Are you really willing to destroy us to get back what you've lost?"

"For Amaya I'd give anything!" He roared, slamming his hand against the bars, causing her to jump back from the bars involuntarily. "I had her stolen from me! Had my dreams stolen from me! I'd give anything to have them returned!"

"I know what it's like to lose something important to you." She responded, trying to get him to regain his temper. "But to take a life, anyone's life, is wrong."

"Sometimes even angels must sin." He replied as he began to leave the room. Panicking, Dippy tried to find a reason to make him return, some way to convince him to come back so she could continue her questioning.

"Could I have some water?" She asked, coming up with that as the first idea that came to mind.

Scott just left wordlessly, leaving Dippy to hope she hadn't blown what could have been her only way out. As she sat in silence, she sat back down on the dusty floor of her cell and thought about everything she had learned. Her captor knew her, he called his partner 'sis', but didn't like talking about her and he wanted to get the Crystal to reclaim something that had been lost to him. She remembered he called out a name, Amaya. Who was she? His girlfriend? Wife? Daughter? Mother? Sister? She tried to reason it out. Something about the way he acted suggested he was not especially old, possibly around her age, so it was unlikely this Amaya was his wife or daughter. His sister was the Black Ranger, and he was unlikely to address his mother by her given name, so she reasoned that it was most likely his girlfriend.

Tommy's cell phone rang, almost making the assembled group jump out of their skins in the uncharacteristic silence of the office. Checking caller ID, Tommy gestured to the others that this was the call they'd been waiting on.

"Hayley, please tell me this is good news." Tommy shot out quickly as he answered the phone.

"I've tracked down the dimension she's in." Hayley answered. "It'll just take a while to power up the device. It took a pretty good beating when you destroyed Mezagog's fortress, and I didn't foresee using it ourselves."

"We're all in uncharted waters here." Tommy told her. "Now, call me back when you can open the portal."

"I will Tommy." She responded as she hung up.

"So can she do it?" Charisma asked him.

"If anyone can," Tommy re-assured her, "it's Hayley."

Serendipity's thoughts were interrupted as Scott returned, carrying a large jug of water, and carefully slid it between the bars.

"Here." He said gruffly as he gestured the pitcher towards her. "You wanted something to drink."

"Thank you." She responded, taking the pitcher. "You must have loved her very much." Scott stopped in his tracks as she said this. "Your girlfriend, Amaya. If you're willing to kill to get her back, you must have loved her very much."

Scott's hand twitched involuntarily as she mentioned Amaya's name. Dippy noticed this reaction for the second time, trying to figure out what it meant. "I loved her a lot." Scott told her. "Amaya was not my girlfriend."

"Did she die before you told her how you felt?" She asked, a little confused as her last main lead to identify his motives were dashed.

"She was NOT my girlfriend and she was NOT someone I never told how I felt!" He roared as his captive was beginning to test his patience. "She was my SISTER!"

He turned quickly and stormed away from the cell. Serendipity thought about what he had said. This Amaya he wanted back was his sister. That didn't make a lot of sense, as she knew his sister was the Black Ranger. Quickly reasoning that he must have had more than one sister, she decided her only option was to escape. She just needed a way to get out of her cell to bring her plan to fruition. Taking a sip from the pitcher, she noticed the dust on her clothing, and brushed to try and remove it, but finding it wasn't moving. She inspected the floor realising that it was not dust, but dirt she was sitting on. Normally not an important distinction, but it gave her an idea.

"Could you come back here please?" She pleaded with him. "I'm sorry if what I said upset you, would you come back and talk to me some more?"

She heard footsteps coming in her direction and put her plan into action. Pouring water onto the floor in the corner, she formed a small patch of mud, quickly scooping it into her hand. Picking up the shackles in her other hand, she slowly approached the bars, pulling her hands behind her back.

"Why do you want to talk to me so much?" Scott asked her as he approached.

"I figure it'll be a while before my friends come to rescue me and you ambush them," she began, "and it's not like I have a TV in here. I may as well pass the time somehow."

Scott moved a bit closer, approaching the bars. Was she serious? She only wanted to talk? "No more questions." He demanded, approaching the bars.

Catching him flat-footed, she launched the clod of mud into his visor, where it stuck, blinding him. She then reached forward quickly, grabbing his nearest hand and snapping one of the shackles around his wrist.

"Now you know why they say mud sticks!" She yelled, snatching the key from his belt. As he began to sweep the mud from his face, she quickly unlocked the cage door, before kicking it as hard as she could into his face. Scott fell to the floor as the door swung open just enough for Dippy to squeeze her slender body through.

"Damn!" Scott yelled as he struggled against the steel. "You'll pay for that!"

Dippy didn't wait around for the retribution. She knew he would be able to free himself eventually, and she just wanted to find a way out. Sprinting through the only corridor, she found that she was in a room with no visible exit. It was octagonal, and approximately twenty feet across in any direction. A bright, glowing crystal hung ominously above a large, stone table attached to which were more steel shackles. The stone of the table was darkly stained, and channels carved into it lead off the edge of the table into deep troughs around the edge which were stained the same way as the middle of the table. She almost collapsed in horror as she realised where she was. It was a sacrificial chamber.

"There's no-where to run, blondie!" Amaya roared as she appeared, seemingly from no-where and kicked Dippy hard in the ribs, forcing the air from her lungs. She tried to pull herself to her feet, but a vicious kick from Amaya caught the edge of her brow, splitting it as she fell back to the ground.

Back by the holding cell, Scott finally cleared his visor of mud before called forth his naginata, and powering up the blade, he sliced through the manacle around his wrist. Swearing vengeance as he ran through to the sacrificial chamber, he found Amaya already beating Dippy.

"You must really like pain." The Black Ranger hissed, stalking her. "But then I suppose a cripple like you would get used to it!" As she said this, she drove a hard, evil kick straight into Serendipity's spine, aggravating her condition. Another three or four kicks quickly followed, but the pain was already so intense that Dippy could no longer tell how many attacks connected. Tears of pain and frustration rolled down her face as she struggled in a futile manner to regain her feet to fight back. Scott involuntarily flexed his right hand as each attack connected. He had wanted to retrieve her, but the way Amaya was brutalising her troubled him a little.

"Yes, that's it, cry little cripple." Amaya taunted her as she raised Dippy into a seated position by her hair and drove the back of her head against the stone table. Another vicious attack into her ribs quickly followed. Scott's hand flexed again as she called Serendipity a 'cripple'. "You see that's all you're good for. Giving up and crying. I suppose it's only fitting the Soulfire Crystal chose you to be yellow, the colour of weakness and cowardice." She pulled her visor close to Dippy's face. "You were never going to be any match for us. You see, when push comes to shove, you can't even move."

Frustration overtook her good sense as Dippy spat into the Black Ranger's visor. Amaya roared as she drove her fist into Dippy's face, splitting her lip. Her head spun and her focus came and went as she lay on the ground, vulnerable.

"Amaya, that's ENOUGH!" Scott screamed, coming in from the doorway. "We needed her immobilised, this was unnecessary!"

"Come on bro, we're just going to sacrifice her." Amaya replied as she hauled Serendipity's limp body onto the altar. "What difference does it make if she's comfortable? Your problem is you're too soft."

As Amaya shackled Serendipity to the altar, Scott just mused over what had just happened. He knew this was his sister, well her spirit anyway, but something about the way she had just acted bothered him. For some reason, her actions just seemed so out of character.

Tommy's phone rang, and Hayley announced what he'd been waiting to hear.

"I'm opening a portal now." She informed him as the shimmering green opening appeared. "I can only hold it for three minutes."

"Thanks Hayley." Tommy replied, hanging up the phone. "Guys, you only have three minutes. Get Dippy, then get out of there fast."

Without another thought, the two teens selflessly threw themselves into the unknown.

"Good luck guys." Tommy breathed as he watched them vanish.

Serendipity was just beginning to get her bearings back, when the angry bite at her wrists and ankles confirmed her fears that she was now chained to the altar. She had been trying to remember the conversation between her captors, they seemed to have been having some form of disagreement. Looking to her left, she saw the Black Ranger hefting a large, heavy, double-handed axe off a rack near the altar. Suddenly the conversation between them was the furthest thing from Dippy's mind.

"Your friends will no doubt be here soon." She hissed. "We have no more need for this troublesome weakling."

As she raised the blade, preparing to strike, a shimmering green portal appeared behind her. Colin and Charisma suddenly appeared, catching her captors by surprise. Colin snatched the sacrificial blade as Charisma kicked the Black Ranger across the room.

"Sorry we couldn't be here sooner." Charisma snapped. "But they do say better late than never."

'Not from where I'm sitting.' Dippy thought to herself.


	9. Serendipity's Pain: Part Three

Scott roared as he swung his weapon at Charisma, narrowly missing her head.

"Guys, your powers…"

"We figured that one out already." Colin interrupted Dippy as he stopped Amaya's attack with the heavy sacrificial weapon. As they struggled for position with their weapons interlocked, Colin suddenly launched his head forward, connecting with her helmet, causing her to fall to the floor. "BLOODY HELL!" He yelled as he held his head.

"Not a smart move when your opponent wears a helmet." Charisma commented as she dodged another attack.

"I figured that one out!" Colin snapped back as he brought the heavy bronze weapon down in a destructive arc, smashing the chain connected to the shackle on Dippy's right wrist. "Let's just get the job done and get out of here!"

As he swung the weapon again, aiming for the chain connected to the shackle on her right wrist, the tip crashed through the crystal hanging overhead. As Dippy's right wrist came free, a bright light bathed the room, and an inexplicable mist swirled around the chamber as an unnatural wail assailed the combatants.

"What happened?" Charisma yelled as she threw Scott into the wall. "What's going on?"

"Who the hell cares?" Colin replied, bringing the weapon down another twice, releasing Serendipity's ankles. "It's distracting them, lets…"

He was cut off as Amaya smashed the haft of her weapon into his ribs, sending him to the floor. As she raised her weapon above her head, Dippy swung her hand wildly, at which the Black Ranger flew inexplicably across the room into the opposite wall. Looking around, she noticed the white mist was moving through the invisa-portal. "The Crystal!" She yelled. "That's what kept the souls here, and that's what stopped us using our powers."

"Escape now, think about that later." Charisma snapped as she helped Dippy get up from the altar. Colin quickly grabbed her other arm and the three sprinted through the portal.

Arriving back in the office, Tommy hit the speed-dial on his phone. "Hayley, they're back. Shut down the portal." He barked as he rushed to their side. The portal closed a short time later. Tommy began thoughtfully inspecting Dippy's injuries. "God, they really did a number on you." He gasped as he saw the state they'd left the young girl in. "Torture's not a new trick, but normally they go for something a bit more refined than just beating the hell out of a prisoner."

"Well in this case it doesn't feel great to be a pioneer." She responded with a weak laugh, which was cut off by the wince of pain from her ribs.

"Next time we see them, we'll make them pay." Charisma said reassuringly.

"Guys, I don't think you'll have to wait long for round three." Tommy commented as he pointed to the Dragon Zord flying over the city.

"Zord time." Charisma told Colin as they began to leave the room. Serendipity hauled herself to her feet slowly.

"Uh, Dippy? Where do you think you're going?" Colin asked her.

"To paraphrase a wise man," she began, "you need the Megazord, and last time I checked, only I can summon the Condor Zord."

"Using my own words against me?" Colin replied with a soft smile. "Now that's just a low blow."

"We can use all the help we can get." Charisma commented. "Sure you're up to it?"

"If I get a chance to kick the Black Ranger's ass up and down the Strip, it'll be worth it." She answered.

"Fire of the soul, IGNITE!" They chorused together, morphing before sprinting out of the building and heading towards the centre of the city.

"Think the Zords will have repaired themselves?" Colin mused.

"There's one way to find out." Dippy answered.

Calling the Zords and assembling the Soulfire Megazord, they took flight, landing in the centre of the city to confront the Dragon Zord.

"We didn't get the job done in the Dimensional Nexus." Scott remarked as his Zord landed. "Guess we'll just have to finish you the old-fashioned way."

"Talking us to death?" Charisma taunted him. "Come on, let's see what you have!"

As the Zord's mouth opened, the Megazord took flight, avoiding the inferno.

"Come on, that tired trick? Let's see something impressive!" Charisma continued to berate her opponent.

"Oh I will show you impressive!" Scott yelled back. "Dragon Zord Warrior mode!"

Converting to the warrior mode, he surged forward, catching the Megazord a sweeping blow across the chest plate. The three retaliated with a blow to the back of the Dragon Zord's head as it passed.

"Pathetic!" Scott roared as he rounded on them. Launching his Zord into the air, it came down, spinning quickly. "Dragon Zord, Spear Tornado Strike!" He screamed as the attack connected, sending the Soulfire Megazord sprawling across the ground, sparks flying.

"Power levels are critical!" Charisma stated as she checked the systems. "We take another hit like that and we're finished!"

"I know how to catch him out." Colin replied. "I figured out the weakness in the Zord's attack pattern. Both of you, bail out!"

"Why?" Dippy asked him.

"In case I'm wrong. But trust me, I have his number." Colin answered her. "Trust me."

"I already told you I do." Charisma told him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Come on Dippy."

"Giving up so soon?" Scott laughed aloud as he watched them bail out. "Pity, I was having fun!"

"Don't flatter yourself." Colin shot back from the cockpit. "We just realised it'll only take one of us in this thing to defeat your two bit joke of a Zord."

"You cocky little…!"

"Go on then tough guy." Colin sneered. "Give me that ultimate attack of yours. One…more…time!"

"You heard him bro." Amaya retorted. "If the Scotsman has a death wish, let's make it come true."

"DRAGON ZORD SPEAR TORNADO ATTACK!" He screamed passionately as his Zord launched into it's attack. Colin began counting down in his head.

"Now!" He yelled. "Rising Serpent Strike, FULL POWER."

Scott watched as, instead of awaiting the attack, or setting up a defence, he launched the Megazord straight towards him. As the Dragon Zod spun, it's spear narrowly missed, rotating just out of the way in it's spinning path, while the Megazord scored it's way along the Dragon Zord's body.

"Critical hit!" Scott screamed in disbelief as the Zord came crashing, prone to the ground. Pressing the attack without allowing it time to regain it's feet, Colin smashed the Megazord into it with a full-power diving attack. He struggled to bring it back to an attacking position, all the while praying for it to hold out.

"Come on Megazord" He growled as he fought with the protesting controls. "Just a little more, then you can fade out to recharge."

Scott pulled the Dragon Zord to it's feet slowly, clearly damaged. "We're not done…"

His words were cut off as Colin surged forward. "Serpent Strike, FULL POWER!" He yelled as it landed the final blow. As sparks flew, the Dragon Zord pitched lifelessly to the ground, discarding it's crew as it fell before fading out to self-repair.

"You go too Megazord." He commanded as he leapt out of the cockpit to the ground where his friends were waiting. The Zord faded out, it's energy all but expended and it's frame on the verge of critical failure. "You've earned it."

"That was amazing!" Charisma yelled as Colin arrived beside them. "How did you do that?"

"Applied Maths." Colin explained. "The Dragon Zord's ultimate attack requires it to spin. I knew if I figured out the speed of it's spin, I could time my attack so that my attack would connect, while his would spin harmlessly away. After that, I just didn't give him a chance to mount another offensive."

"That's it. From now on, you help me with maths homework." Charisma responded. "Anyway, are you two about ready to give it up yet?"

"Against you?" Amaya spat with disdain, hauling herself back to her feet. "Not a chance. Even without our Zord you're no match for us! You two can't compete with us, and the cripple's so weak she may as well not even be here!"

Serendipity then noticed again the involuntary flexing in Scott's right hand. It was then that the last few pieces of the puzzle fell into place. Dr. O said there were only FOUR Soulfire Rangers. The Purple Ranger regularly called the Black Ranger 'sis' and didn't want to talk about her. He said he'd lost a sister named Amaya. She finally remembered her brief conversation with the Black Ranger.

_"__Darksoul__ wants the Crystal, what do you really think will happen to you once he has it?"_

_"That is none of your concern weakling. Oh and don't worry, you won't have to wait long before we destroy you."_

She had thought it odd that she showed no concern over the potential outcome that Darksoul would betray them. Of course, because she knew he would! Somehow Darksoul had created a duplicate of Amaya to convince the Purple Ranger to fight in the hope of winning back his sister. He had told her Darksoul promised to use the Crystal to give him back what he'd lost. His sister! She now understood what he wanted, even if she hadn't yet established his identity. She then remembered the involuntary flexing in his right hand whenever he saw or heard something that made him uncomfortable, he said he used to play piano, but saying it that way let her know he didn't anymore. The reaction in his hand, obviously there was a connection.

Looking at her own hands she remembered that in her morphed form her arthritis didn't affect her. She gasped as she made the mental link. The hand, losing a sister, she figured out who he was. Scott! She also realised what might make him see that he was being fooled. She placed an arm across Charisma and Colin's chests, holding them back.

"You and me Black Ranger!" She yelled. "One on one, unless you're a coward!"

"Dippy…" Colin began.

"I know what I'm doing." She replied sternly. "What about it?"

"Don't make me laugh cr…"

"DO NOT call me that AGAIN!" She interrupted as she stepped forward, her shard of the Soulfire Crystal appearing in her hand and glowing more brightly than before. "I am SICK of people feeling sorry for me! I am SICK of people using my condition to write me off!" She stepped forward intently, her gaze never shifting from the Black Ranger. "But most of all, I AM SICK of using my condition as a reason to give up! Ancient Armour Mode!"

As she stepped forward, flame engulfed her, forging the armour around her. Her razor fns extended to almost two feet in length, and were tipped with vicious looking barbs. Moving into the centre of the clearing between the two sides, she slipped into a guarding stance.

"Look who finally figured out that trick." Amaya sneered as she powered up. "But in case you forgot, I can do that too."

"I'm glad." Dippy snapped back. "Now you'll have no excuse when I kick your ass eight ways from Sunday!"

Amaya snarled as she lunged forward, finding her strike blocked by one of Serendipity's fans. Powering up the other, Dippy scored a trio of telling blows across her chest plate. Rolling away, Amaya pulled herself back to her feet with her weapon.

"So the little girl grew up and learned a few moves." Amaya snapped back. Powering up her blade, she sent Dippy sprawling to the floor with a power wave attack. As Colin was getting ready to step in, Dippy gestured to him to stop, before getting back to her feet.

Scott watched the fight unfolding, but couldn't shake how odd it felt. He didn't know why, but the way his sister taunted and insulted Dippy just didn't seem right. She seemed completely venomous and caustic in her demeanour. He also couldn't explain to himself why he felt no joy as Amaya regained the edge over the Yellow Ranger, or why he didn't feel anything at all while she was being attacked.

Dippy avoided another energy wave, sending one back herself, finding her target. As Amaya lay on her back, Dippy pressed the advantage, powering her weapons to full power and swinging them wildly. Amaya raised the haft of her naginata to block, only to have it sliced into three pieces before the remaining attacks smashed her out of her Ancient Armour Mode. Dippy backed off a few paces.

"Uh, I thought Dippy was a pacifist?" Charisma commented.

"So did I!" Colin retorted as they continued to watch.

"Unlike some I will not take advantage of a vulnerable opponent." Serendipity stated with authority. Powering down to her standard Ranger form, she waited for Amaya to return to her feet.

Scott continued to watch, completely torn. Serendipity fought with the strength and honour Amaya always had, and had respect for others. She could easily have destroyed Amaya, but opted to allow her to continue. He thought hard about what Dippy had said. Amaya had taken advantage of Dippy when she was vulnerable, and had beaten her more excessively than was necessary. Why did this bother him so much? It came to him. Amaya was the one who wanted to kill Dippy! She wanted to destroy her while she was helpless. She took a cruel pride in her weakness. He continued to watch as the doubts continued to plague his mind.

"I am no longer armed." Amaya stated. Scott called forth his own naginata. Colin was again about to intervene, but this time Charisma stopped him as she watched Scott throw it in front of his sister.

"You are now." Scott told her.

Picking up the weapon, she prepared to attack, only to be cut off as Dippy launched a hail of energy blasts into her chest. Surging forward, an upward swing of her razor fans disarmed her opponent, before he brought them down in a scything arc across her chest. Amaya lay on her belly on the ground looking up at her opponent as she walked away towards her comrades. "Finish her now bro." She snarled.

Scott reluctantly picked weapon while his sister regained her feet, levelling it behind Dippy's back. She held up a hand as her friends prepared to attack.

"Do what you have to do." She told him. With an anguished scream, He swung around, scoring a savage slash across Amaya's chest.

"You are NOT my sister!" He screamed, pressing the attack as he powered up to his armoured mode. "You look like her, you sound like her, you even fight like her but there is no way you can be Amaya!"

Staggering back a few paces, she stared at him. "But bro, you know it's me. Darksoul allowed me to come back to you, albeit in this pseudo real form. I know all about what happened to us. Ask me anything." She held her arms open as though gesturing for a hug. "Ask me anything only Amaya would know."

"It's a trick." Serendipity interjected. "You know it is. She will know all the secrets you and your sister shared, but you know it isn't her. Ask yourself, does she act like your sister? She might sound like her, but does she TALK like her?"

"Bro please!" Amaya begged him. "Who are you going to believe? Me or her?"

Scott stood concentrating on the heart-rending decision. She insulted Dippy because of her disability. She took advantage of her weakened state. She encouraged him to enter an unfair fight. She tried to encourage him to kill.

How could he have been so blind? Amaya was always a sweet, caring child. She was the carefree, supportive young girl who would sit each day by the piano as he practiced, the one who would always cry when he played the first movement of Moonlight Sonata. While she loved martial arts, and loved competing alongside her brother, she hated hurting living things. She hated needless suffering and more than anything; the thought of killing was anathema to her. She had been studying hard at school and wanted more than anything to become a vet so she could prevent animals suffering. Fire burned in his veins and tears formed in his eyes beneath his helmet as he prepared to act.

"You have dishonoured Amaya's memory LONG ENOUGH!" He screamed. Letting out a pained, impassioned scream, He powered up his blade to full power. Spinning skilfully as he surged to the attack, he brought the blade across her, forever destroying the corrupt spirit that masqueraded as the one person he would have done anything for. The effort of his exertion caused him to de-morph as he dropped to one knee. As he knelt on the cold concrete, tears streamed down his face as he stared into the night. "Goodbye Amaya." He breathed gently.

"Goodbye bro." He heard a familiar voice say. Looking up, he saw the spirit of his little sister standing before him. "You've carried me around for too long. It's time to live. I know you'll do the right thing." With that, she passed her hand through his, causing his fragment of the Soulfire Crystal to appear and glow brightly. Then, with the same bright smile she greeted him with every morning by the piano, she disappeared.

Scott returned to his feet and turned to face the three Rangers. As the three de-morphed, Colin and Charisma just stood staring at him in disbelief.

"You?" Charisma yelled. "We thought you were our friend!"

Scott was unable to respond, instead just taking the option to turn and run from the abandoned street as fast as he could. Colin and Charisma were about to pursue, but Serendipity gestured to them to stop.

"Let him go." She told them. "He won't be a threat any more. For now, let's just go home."

As they walked away, Dippy pulled her cash from her wallet, before tossing her wallet and her purse into a nearby trash can.

"What did you do that for?" Charisma asked.

"I can't show up at home looking like this without a good cover story." She responded. "I'll say I got mugged. Shame really, I kind of liked that purse."

The following morning, the three assembled in Dr. O's office, Dippy relayed the whole story to the rest of the group. They all sat in stunned silence as she finished the sorry tale. Eventually Colin was able to break the mood.

"OK, now that would totally screw with your head." He remarked.

"God, no wonder he believed Darksoul and agreed to fight for him." Charisma concurred with his assessment. "So what do we do about it?"

"In my experience, there's nothing we can do about it." Tommy stated. "We can only hope and trust in Scott that he'll do the right thing and fight on the right side."

"No disrespect Dr. O, but it wasn't long ago he was using my skull as a bongo." Colin said sarcastically. "I don't know…"

"Just like each of you, the Soulfire Crystal would not have chosen him to bear it's power if he wasn't suitable." Tommy interrupted him. "It will take the full power of the united Soulfire Crystal to defeat Darksoul for good."

"Well that's one problem out of the way." Colin mused. "That just leaves one."

"What do we do about Barry?" Tommy pre-empted his question.

Charisma and Colin finished up their classes, before heading across to Adam's gym across the street. They had met Dippy for lunch as usual and she told them to meet her there after school. They didn't know why, they but they had a feeling that she had something important to tell them.

"Hey, Adam." Colin greeted the gym instructor as they arrived. "Dippy told us to meet her here. Do you know where she is?"

"She's in the pool." Adam informed them, continuing with his work.

They both made their way to the pool finding Dippy in the middle of a few laps. Seeing her friends enter the room, she made her way to the side of the pool with a big smile on her face. Her injuries from the night before were still evident, though they had healed quite considerably due to the Crystal's energies.

"Hey guys." She greeted her friends. "Fancy a workout?"

"You've never seemed interested in this kind of thing before." Charisma responded. "What's with the sudden interest?"

"I meant what I said to that thing last night." She told them. "I'm through using my arthritis as an excuse to give up on things I enjoy. When I was first diagnosed and found it harder to compete in athletics, I ended up just giving up on exercising altogether. But I decided that I would like to get back into exercising again."

"Are you going back to athletics?" Colin asked her.

"Not quite." She replied with a small laugh. "I wouldn't be up to anything as high-impact as that, but I researched a couple of web sites, and found a few dedicated to low-impact exercise programmes designed for people with arthritis and other joint problems." She brushed her hair back as she continued to explain. "I mail-ordered some roller blades, so that should help with the impact on my spine when I go for a run, I've signed a membership here so I can go for a swim and take part in the Tai Chi classes and I've downloaded some stretching exercises that should help with my mobility, and in the long run could end up reducing the regularity of the harsher attacks."

"So what about your…ahem…tea?" Colin asked her.

"I'll still use it," she responded, "but my days of relying on it as my only relief are over."

"Well I think that's great Dippy." Charisma congratulated her friend. "It's great you're taking something positive out of what happened to you."

"Yeah, I'm just worried about Scott though." She told her friends thoughtfully. "I haven't seen him since last night. I really think we should be trying to reach out to him. I can't imagine how he's feeling."

"Well I know my head would be totally screwed if something like that happened to me." Colin agreed. "I'm sure he'll show up sooner or later, and when he does, we can try to give him another chance."

"Yeah." Charisma sighed as she knelt by the pool. "I mean, you have more reason than Colin or I to hate him, so if you can forgive him, I guess we can try too."

"Say Colin, could you help me out?" Dippy asked him.

"No problem." He replied, reaching out his hand. Without warning, Dippy grabbed him and pulled him, fully clothed, into the pool. Resurfacing, Colin wiped chlorinated water from his eyes.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist." She giggled as she and Charisma began laughing. Colin wasn't that amused to begin with, but quickly came to appreciate the joke and joined in.

Meanwhile, sitting in the back yard of his parent's house, Scott called forth his shard of the Soulfire Crystal. He had considered throwing it away almost a dozen times already, and just putting the self-inflicted nightmare behind him. He still couldn't believe everything he'd done. It pained him to think that he wilfully attacked the first people in this god-forsaken place that had actually been nice to him. It almost made him weep openly when he thought about his part in Serendipity's kidnapping, or that he was able to stand back and let that thing torture her, and was about to let it destroy her. He couldn't believe that his desperate desire to have her returned to him had left him so blind, so easy to manipulate that he almost became everything they had both hated their entire lives based on nothing more than an unfounded promise that she could be returned when he knew she was gone.

As he continued to wonder if he would ever deserve the power he had been given, he remembered seeing her that one last time. His sister, his TRUE sister had told him with the last words she said before she disappeared to do the right thing. He knew exactly what she meant, but there was no way the Rangers could accept him now, was there?

His attention was snapped up, and his shard disappeared into his hand once more as his stepfather called him inside.

"Scott, I said the game's starting." Roy shouted across the porch. "I've already got the beers out the fridge."

"I'm just coming Roy." He replied as he got up off the grass and made his way inside. As he arrived in the house and opened a beer, with his step-father's permission, the same thoughts that had plagued him for the last several hours continued to echo around his head. How could he ever make them trust him? Forgive him? More importantly, how could he ever forgive himself?


	10. Return of the Purple

Colin made his way to school early one morning in the hopes of tracking down Scott. It had now been over a week since their last battle with the Purple Ranger, and Darksoul had been remarkably quiet. They'd had one or two small skirmishes with Shades, but no new daemons had appeared. In the meantime they had decided to concentrate on finding Scott and convincing him to fight with them, but he was not easy to find. He had blown off a couple of days at school directly after he had revealed his identity to them, and after that he tended to run off any time he saw them. They could only even get him in the same room when he had to stick around during classes, and even then he did everything he could to distance himself from them.

Arriving at the school gates, he found Charisma there asking some of the other students if they'd seen him. Clearly he wasn't the only one with that idea.

"Great minds think alike." He said greeting her as he placed an arm around her. "Any luck finding our favourite Antepodian?"

"No sign of him." She replied. "He must have taken another route. It's a shame Dr. O couldn't just let us know his address from his personal records."

"Like he said, that would be illegal." Colin reminded her. "We can't just go reading his personal details because we feel like it."

"I know that." Charisma groaned as she began making her way towards the school building. "It would just make things so much easier. He isn't letting us anywhere near him."

"He probably just thinks we're looking for revenge." Colin told her. "It wasn't that long ago he kidnapped Dippy. He probably thinks we're out to get him."

"Speakind of Dippy, Heads up!" Charisma interjected. Dippy came barreling along the pavement at great speed, swerving into him on her roller blades, sending both of them tumbling to the concrete. Colin caught her as she careered into him, being spread-eagled on the pavement as she landed on top if him.

"Sorry about that." She apologised, getting up. "I'm still getting used to the roller blades."

"Don't mention it." Colin grumbled as he scrambled back to his feet. "Always glad to give you a soft landing."

Meanwhile Scott was standing in the mini mall across the street from tha school, pretending to look at the wares on the shelf as he observed the others. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't just disappear. He needed to put in an appearance in his civilian life at some point. He watched as Colin and Dippy got back to their feet, laughing and joking as they enjoyed each other's company. He hadn't felt lonely in a long time. Since the day of his accident he actually preferred to be by himself. However, now he felt truly alone. It was them, the self same people who'd tried to reach out to him, tried to become his friends that he had wilfully betrayed. As much as Darksoul had lied to him, had tricked him he still couldn't forgive himself for his actions against them.

Serendipity looked radiant as she talked cheerfully with her friends. He could hardly believe it had only been a week since the corrupt spirit which had been masquerading as his sister had beaten her savagely. She was the most amazing person he'd ever met, she was fascinating to him. She had approached him and tried to befriend him when no one else would even come near him and although he repaid her with rudeness, she had tried again and again. She had tried to reach out to him when others wouldn't and yet he had ended up standing back while that thing inflicted such suffering on her. He felt a surge of pain run through him every time he looked at her now. He couldn't bear to be in the same room as her, knowing how badly he'd failed possibly the only person he'd come close to calling a friend in this place.

He felt his heart burn with unbridled rage as he remembered the day he'd been approached by Darksoul. Thanks to her, he now knew the truth. Darksoul had no intention of returning Amaya to him, and yet he had managed to convince him that he would. His own deepest, most desperate desire to have his old life returned to him had blinded him to the obvious evil in Darksoul's intent. He was certain there was no way he could convince the Rangers to allow him to fight by their side, but he knew he had to see to it that Darksoul was destroyed for good. He had almost turned Scott into everything he hated through a false promise, and he had desecrated the memory of his beloved sister. No, Darksoul had to be destroyed for the sake of all humanity, and for everything he had done, Scott swore that he would end Darksoul's existence personally.

Continuing to watch as the three made their way inside; he made sure they had left before he left the shop. He was sure they would be out for revenge over what he had done to Serendipity, and he was sure she'd hate him with a passion. No, he could do without those conflicts. He would take care of Darksoul himself.

Barry sat in his living room, struggling to maintain control over himself, though he knew that it would not be long until the thing controlling him returned. The windows of time where he was in control of his own mind and body were growing more infrequent, and shorter every day. He figured it would not be long until he lost control completely. He had already sent his husband to stay with relatives with the cover story that he was inviting his mother to stay with him for a few days. Stephen, his husband, knew that Barry's mother had never been supportive of his choice of lifestyle and accepted that Barry normally kept the two of them apart to prevent any of the unpleasant arguments that normally began when they were forced to spend any real amount of time together. He had also sent a message to Kira and hoped she would find somewhere safe to get herself, Tommy and the kids into hiding.

'Oh I think she would be able to take care of herself.' Darksouls voice assailed his mind, causing him to jump out of his chair. 'We've met your little 'Sparky' before haven't we? That beautiful young creature who came into your office?'

"Stay away from her." Barry screamed, clutching his head as though attempting to stop it falling apart like an egg. "She has done nothing to you."

'Oh, I see, you care about her don't you?' Darksoul taunted him. 'The young singer and her husband are your best friends aren't they?'

"I'd die before I let you harm them!" Barry yelled as he opened his desk drawer and pulled out an automatic pistol. Flicking off the safety and chambering a round, he pressed the barrel to his temple. Try as hard as he could, he could not pull the trigger, his fingers wouldn't respond to his wishes anymore. He'd done it again. Darksoul knew that it took all the strength Barry had to remain in control, and had used his own emotions against him to reclaim control.

'A futile gesture.' Darksoul commented as Barry tried to resist, but found his hands dropping to his side, removing the loaded gun from it's dangerous position by his temple. 'We both know that would only destroy you. I on the other hand would just find another host.'

"At least it would delay you." Barry responded as he tried to wrest back control, however, it was too late. The daemon had taken control.

'What does time matter to an immortal daemon?' He mused. 'Of course these little episodes of yours are becoming increasingly inconvenient. You've already written to your little Sparky to warn her, though with luck she will not have figured out your code.'

'Damn!' Barry thought. 'He figured out the code!'

'I was alive when Caesar invented the perfect square cipher.' Darksoul answered him. 'Yes, your little episodes are becoming quite troublesome. Who knows, you may even carry out your threat to end your own pathetic life to delay my plans. No, the time has come to ensure you cannot regain control. I need to weaken your soul enough to remain in command. It's time to get a little blood on your hands Barry, and I say we start with your husband and his family.'

Barry re-doubled his efforts to regain control. He could see the daemon's thoughts and knew he wasn't lying. As he reached the door of his apartment, the daemon was a little surprised to find Barry's PA standing on the doorstep.

"Good morning Barry." She greeted him. "You said you'd give me a lift, remember?"

"Of course," he responded, "fancy a coffee before we go?"

"Oh you always did know that caffeine was my main weakness." She replied making her way inside.

'Change of plan.' Darksoul thought. Barry could only watch in horror as his own hands seized her roughly by the neck. Hearing the snap as she slumped lifelessly to the ground, Barry cursed the daemon for it's control over him. He couldn't even weep for the friend he had just murdered.

Tommy sat in his office reading through some assorted memos from the education department, though not really giving them much notice. Generally they sent him dozens of memos that just seemed to be a waste of time and paper. He had at one time hypothesised that they sent those pointless correspondences as a way of wasting money from the budget so that the tax authority wouldn't cut their budget in future years. He was part way through the pile, most of them being simply screwed up and thrown into his bin, when he noticed some shades approaching the school from the window in his office.

'Guys, there's about two dozen shades approaching the school's east entrance.' Tommy communicated his thoughts to the Rangers.

'Why can they never attack at a convenient time?' Charisma thought as she raced towards the east side of the school. 'Like during double maths? Why does it have to be at home time?'

The three arrived outside as the shades arrived, driving off the students who had been sitting on the benches outside. As the last of the students left, Charisma took a look around to confirm no one would see them using their powers.

"Right guys, let's make this quick." She ordered, igniting her fists and throwing herself into the attack.

"Right behind you." Colin responded, before teleporting to the other side of the group of shades. Grabbing two of them, he teleported about 30 feet in the air, before letting them fall and teleporting himself back to the ground. "Got to love that." He remarked as the two shades crashed to the ground and began to fade out.

"This definitely beats fighting them directly." Serendipity remarked as she threw her arms forward, telekinetically propelling three of them into a nearby wall with tremendous velocity.

"I don't know, I kind of like the hands-on approach." Charisma interjected, dispatching another pair of shades with her burning fists.

"You would." Colin remarked, driving a hard kick into a shade's head.

"Adam's lessons seem to be working." Dippy complimented him as she launched a trash can over Colin's head, taking out a shade that was sneaking up behind him.

"Thanks." He said gratefully.

A short time later, they had disposed of the last of their opponents and watched them fade into nothingness. "Not that I'm complaining about the workout." Charisma began, regaining her breath. "But do either of you have any idea what that was all about?"

"Darksoul's done that a couple of times this week." Dippy replied. "Sends a few shades with no real purpose and not even sending a daemon."

"That's because he was waiting for the right time." A daemon sneered as he came into view. He was about seven feet tall and heavily muscled with flame-red flesh. He had cloven feet and bull-like legs. A huge steel breast plate covered his massive chest. His head was that of a bull, and was topped by vicious looking horns. In his right hand he wielded a large, heavy spiked mace.

"You had to say it." Colin complained. "Now we have a daemon to fight."

"Two actually." Another minotaur-daemon corrected him as he came into view. He was almost the same as the other, though his flesh was unnaturally white. "Master Darksoul wants the Crystal."

"Well, it's not really his to take now is it?" Charisma shot back. "I don't suppose there's any point trying to talk about this."

The two minotaurs struck the ground with their maces, sending the teens falling to the ground as a miniature tremor split the concrete.

"I hope the school's insurance covers earthquakes." Charisma commented. "Right guys, we all know what to do.

"Fire of the soul IGNITE!" They chorused together.

In another part of town, an elderly woman looked through the peep-hole as her doorbell sounded. Seeing her son-in-law, Barry standing outside, she unhitched the security chain.

"Sorry it took so long to answer the door Barry dear." She greeted him with a kiss on the cheek. "I was just using the new peep-hole. Stephen fitted it for me, he's always worried about me answering the door after dark."

"Good thinking." He commented. "You never know who might come knocking."

"Barry." Stephen greeted him, approaching his husband. "How's your mother?"

"Wouldn't know." He replied. "She never came." With that, he pulled out his automatic pistol and fired a couple of rounds into Stephen's gut, before grabbing his mother's hair and pulling her down to her knees.

"Barry, what are you doing?" Stephen shrieked, unable to fathom why the man he loved was trying to kill him.

"Just sorting out a problem." He answered as the gun fired again, spraying blood from his mother-in-law's chest as the round pierced her heart. He then levelled the gun at Stephen's head. "Now I'm in control." As the last round rung through the house, he placed the gun back in his pocket before leaving.

"I've reserved all my killing to my daemon form. I almost forgot how much fun it was to kill as a human." Darksoul remarked as he left the building. "Perhaps I'll use your form when we make our next little house call. I really think it's time you visited that singer friend of yours."

Barry could only watch helplessly, a prisoner of his own body as Darksoul made his way back to the car.

Back at the school, the three Rangers engaged in a vicious battle with the minotaur creatures.

"Ancient armour mode." They chorused together, powering up.

"Chain blade, full power!" Charisma yelled, swinging her weapon in massive arcs, scything the energised blades through the red one. As it keeled over and exploded the white one turned on her, sending her flying with a huge swing of it's mace.

"You will pay for bringing down my brother." It snarled, making it's way towards her.

"Forgetting about us?" Serendipity asked, snatching the creature's attention back to her. Launching herself into the air, she powered up her razor fans. "Full power!" She yelled, bringing her weapons through the beast. As it too exploded, Colin came over to his two friends, putting an arm around each of them.

"You know, some guys would object to not getting to destroy one of those things." He remarked, pulling them in closer. "But I'm all for female empowerment."

As they were preparing to power down and leave, the two minotaur daemons were revived and grew to massive size.

"We were only planning to destroy you and the school." The red one snarled. "Now your entire city will be destroyed."

"Why do they always grow bigger?" Serendipity asked.

"Because it's more effective than getting smaller?" Colin suggested.

"Can we just call the Zords and stop them BEFORE they level the city?" Charisma asked, bringing them back to the matter in hand.

Kira was beginning to prepare a feed for the twins as the phone rang.

"Hello?" She inquired as she kept an eye on the pans on top of the stove.

"Kira, it's Tommy." He greeted her. "The guys are battling a couple of daemons over at the school; I can't really leave the office…"

"You're going to be late." She interrupted him. "I'll hold back the dinner a little…" she was interrupted as the doorbell sounded. "Tommy, someone's at the door, I'll see you when you get home."

Moving through to the front door, she looked through the peep-hole, finding Barry standing there. In a panic, she hit the speed-dial on the phone, calling Tommy.

"Dr. Oliver." He answered.

"Tommy, Barry's here." She rushed out as he began pounding on the door.

"I'll be there as soon as I can." He snapped, slamming down the phone and grabbing his coat.

"Sparky, it's just me." Barry called through the door as he pulled out the pistol. "I just want to talk. Can you let me in?"

"It's not a good time." She lied unconvincingly as she grabbed the twins, rushing up the stairs with them. "Can you come back later?"

"That's not good for me." He replied as he levelled the gun at the lock. As the first shot rang out, Kira arrived at the top of the stairs and put the terrified, screaming babies into the cot and locked the door as she left. Arriving back at the top of the stairs, she watched as several more shots rang out, destroying the lock on the door. Barry stepped inside, and looking around he saw Kira at the top of the stairs. Her heart skipped a few beats as he levelled the gun in her direction, though the sharp mechanical click signalled, to her relief that he had expended the last of his bullets breaking the lock.

"What do you want?" She asked. "Why are you controlling Barry?"

"So you did figure out his message." Darksoul responded as he began to shimmer and change into his armoured, true daemon form. Drawing his sword, he levelled it towards her as he advanced up the stairs. "Now, where are the little bundles of joy?"

"You're going to have to go through me to get to them." Kira responded, shifting into a guarding stance.

"That was always the plan." Darksoul responded.

"Sorry, the whole damsel in distress thing doesn't really work for me." She snapped back, before blasting him backwards down the stairs with her Ptera Scream. "I'm not exactly powerless."

Darksoul gazed into her mind. He hadn't thought to before, he believed her to be an ordinary, powerless human, and he was not about to make that mistake a second time. "So, you are a Power Ranger." He stated as he regained his feet. "Well, even so. You will not have the power to destroy me."

Scott was walking through the night, hoping for some answers to the thoughts racing around in his head. He had seen the others take on the shades, and he saw them fighting with the minotaur daemons. He had considered helping them, but they seemed to be handling it themselves and he didn't want to risk getting involved and risking retribution if he didn't need to. As he wandered, he was almost peppered with flying glass as the windows of a nearby house were blown out. An unnatural, high-pitched shriek pierced the evening air. He rushed to the house and looked inside, seeing Darksoul's distinctive, armoured form through the window.

"Fire of the soul IGNITE!" He yelled, morphing as he leapt inside the house. Calling forth his naginata, he confronted the daemon.

"So nice to see you again Scott." Darksoul said as he turned to face him. "I see you and your sister had a falling out."

"You are not fit to speak of her." He spat back aggressively. "You will pay dearly for what you did. Ancient armour mode!"

"I believe you will find you did most of it." He responded, parrying Scott's attack. "I didn't take control of your mind. You did everything of your own duress."

Scott roared aggressively, raining down a barrage of blows, driving Darksoul back. Seeing an opportunity, he powered up the blade, scoring a telling slash across his chest.

"You do not have the power necessary to destroy me." Darksoul taunted him.

"Maybe not." Scott answered. "But I can sure as hell leave you unable to hurt anyone again."

"Pah, I tire of this." Darksoul responded as he began to fade from sight. "Be warned Purple Ranger, no one has betrayed me and lived to tell the tale. We will meet again."

Tommy came sprinting up the path and into the house shortly after Darksoul left, finding Scott in the living room. Kira appeared a short time later with the twins, gently bouncing them to try and calm them down after their terrifying ordeal. Tommy gently took Emma from her, and began rocking her as Kira began to sing soothingly to Frank.

"Scott, the others are battling two daemons by the school." He told him. "When I left they were taking a bit of a beating. They could use your help."

"How did you know?" Scott asked, realising Tommy had used his name.

"The guys told me." He explained. "I'm kind of their mentor. I'll explain later, you need to get going."

"But after everything…"

"You can worry about what happened between you and the guys later." Tommy interrupted him. "But for now, you really need to get the Dragon Zord over there and help them. Otherwise everything we've done is for nothing."

Scott nodded wordlessly and prepared to leave.

"Scott." Tommy called to him. Scott turned to face him. "Thanks. You saved their lives."

His heart lifted by the gesture from Tommy, he turned and sprinted from the house.

Back at the school, the battle was not going well for the others. The two minotaurs had barely let up on the attack since they had formed the Megazord. As soon as they repelled one, the other would attack before they could press the advantage. They were sent crashing once more to the ground by a vicious energy blast.

"Power levels are dropping faster than Brad's grade point average." Charisma stated. "We have to find a way to create distance."

"Maybe I can help." They heard Scott's voice calling out as the Dragon Zord flew into the fray, belching flame over the two daemons.

"Never let it be said I'm too proud to accept help." Colin replied. "Feel free to join in."

"Warrior mode!" Scott screamed, forming the Zord's humanoid form. "Tail whip attack!" He screamed as the zord spun quickly, swiping the white minotaur's feet away from under it.

"Guys, he's bought us the time we need." Charisma yelled. "Serpent strike FULL POWER!"

The red minotaur was obliterated in a hail of energy blasts from the serpent weapon, exploding as it fell to the ground and disappeared.

"Tornado Spear Attack!" Scott yelled, launching his Zord into the air, and powering up it's spear before spinning quickly, destroying the other daemon completely.

"Power down." The three teens chorused as they jumped down from their zord. Assuming their civilian form, they ran down the street after Scott as he tried to flee the area.

"Scott, stop we only want to talk." Dippy shouted after him. Realising he wasn't stopping, she decided to force her hand by telekinetically lifting him off the ground so he couldn't run.

"Let me go." He yelled. "I know I deserve whatever you're going to do, but please I promise…"

"We weren't going to do anything to you." Serendipity told him, lifting him over to them with her mental power. "We only wanted to talk. Look, thanks for helping us back there."

"We were taking a real beating." Charisma admitted, coming over to him and extending a hand. "Would you continue to fight with us?"

"You trust me?" He asked. "What about everything I've done?"

"Listen, Darksoul seriously screwed with your head." Colin explained. "I know I would have found it hard to resist his offer. Especially when he created that thing to impersonate your sister, it had to be pretty convincing. I could see why you believed him."

"We all really want you to join us." Dippy told him, putting her arms around him. Scott looked a little uncomfortable, but returned the gesture. "The only way we can get rid of Darksoul for good is to work together.

"I'm really sorry for everything I did." Scott told them. "I know it will take a lot to get you to trust me, but I swore to destroy Darksoul for Amaya's sake, and I will fight for you."

"Welcome to the team." Colin told him, extending a hand. "I must admit having my reservations, but Dippy's the one who has the real reason to hate you. If she can give you another chance, then I guess I can. Just don't make me regret it."

"I won't." He answered, accepting the handshake.

"Anyway, we should take you to see Dr. O." Dippy shot out. "He'll explain everything."

"Right, a few answers wouldn't go amiss." Scott responded. "I'd really like to know what's going on with him mentoring the team and everything."

"Trust me, you're in for a long night." Colin replied as the four made their way into the night.


	11. An Explanation for Scott

A/n:- Just a short filler chapter written purely for it's own sake. Pretty much the review posted by Gina Star inspired me to pen this pointless little filler purely for it's humour. I promise to do a proper update soon.

The four teenagers arrived back at Tommy's house to find Tommy boarding up the windows to secure the house. Unfortunately the fight inside had happened at the end of the day, meaning the local glaziers had closed up for the night, and it would be at least morning before they could get the windows repaired properly.

"What happened?" Dippy asked.

"Kira's secondary power isn't exactly indoor friendly." Tommy replied gesturing them inside. As they made their way into the living room, Scott just leant closer to Dippy.

"Did he just say his wife has a secondary power?" He inquired. She looked at him, realising that Colin was right. He was going to have a long night. At least the other three had time to digest all this new information in small pieces, poor Scott was going to have everything dumped on him at once.

"I'll let Dr. O explain." She told him, taking a seat on the couch. By now, Kira had finally managed to calm the kids down enough to feed them and get them off to sleep. Finishing up with the stop gap repairs, Tommy joined them in the living room.

"OK Scott, how much do you know already?" Tommy asked him, trying to get a grasp on where to begin.

"I was approached by some guy named Darksoul, who seems to have freaky powers." He began, recalling the events up until that night. "He brought a spirit that he claimed was the spirit of my sister Amaya, and told me that if I fought for him and reclaimed the other fragments of the crystal, he could use it's power to bring her back."

He looked at the floor, too ashamed to look at Dippy. "When she victimised Dippy the way she did, I began to have my doubts, but it was during their one-on-one battle that I finally realised that whatever that thing was it wasn't her." He breathed a deep sigh remembering the events that followed. "It was the hardest thing I've ever done, but I destroyed the thing that impersonated her. After that, I couldn't face any of you. I was sure you wouldn't be able to forgive me, so I ran. I swore that I would make Darksoul pay, but I was sure you wouldn't let me join you, so I started looking for him myself."

"Tonight Darksoul showed up here." Tommy informed the others. "Kira held him off with her Ptera Scream, and fortunately Scott showed up when he did. He drove Darksoul off before I could get there. I managed to convince him to summon the Dragon Zord to help you guys out, and the rest you know."

"OK, so could you please fill in a few blanks for me?" Scott inquired, clearly confused. "I mean, how do you know about Power Rangers? What's this about your wife having a power? What the hell happened to the windows…?"

"Alright Scott, I'll answer this one question at a time." Tommy began. "First thing's first. Darksoul. He works for an ancient Incan god named Supay. Supay is the lord of the underworld and has an army of daemons that he plans to unleash on earth. However, he is not able to open the gateway between this world and the underworld, Uca Pacha."

"I take it that's where this Darksoul comes in." Scott said, stroking the bridge of his nose as he tried to make sense of it all.

"Darksoul was created by Supay to allow him access to earth. A cross between Daemon and human, he could cross the gateway into earth. There he established a following of disciples and attempted to find the one thing powerful enough to open the gateway fully."

"The Soulfire Crystal?" Scott asked. He suddenly became grateful that he had not taken the decision to throw his shard away when he became aware of Darksoul's treachery.

"Exactly." Tommy continued. "The ancient Incan warriors were able to destroy Darksoul's human half, but his Daemon half was too powerful to destroy without the power of the Crystal. For thousands of years, he's travelled the earth, surviving by possessing humans with enough evil in their soul to allow him access while he searched for the Crystal. Now, the Crystals have bound to their rightful owners, you four."

"Right, so now we destroy Darksoul." Scott interjected.

"It's not that simple." Tommy told him. "During the final battle, you will use your combined powers to reunite the fragments of the Crystal to harness it's power to destroy Darksoul for good. However, there is a complication. He's possessed Barry, Kira's record producer, and we have no idea how to separate them."

The phone rang, almost making everyone jump high enough to hit the ceiling in the comparative quiet of the living room.

"I'll go." Kira said, making her way through to the kitchen.

"That just about covers everything about our powers." Scott interjected, bringing them back to the subject at hand. "But you still haven't explained how you know about all this stuff."

"Kira and I have been Rangers before." Tommy explained. "I met Kira when I was teaching in Reefside. She and three other teenagers, along with myself, became the Dino Thunder Rangers who battled against Mezagog and his army of mutant dinosaurs."

"Hang on, back up a dozen paces. You were a Power Ranger?" He shrieked.

"Why is that so hard to believe?" Tommy asked a little indignantly.

"Well, you're old." Scott stated. Noticing the look of thunder crossing Tommy's face, the others began looking around the room, trying hard not to start laughing. Colin had to bury his face in a cushion so his own laughter couldn't be heard, though the movement in his ribcage gave him away. Scott realised his mistake as he noticed the vein in Tommy's neck beginning to throb a little. "Well, I don't mean OLD, I just meant you seem OLDER than us to be doing this kind of thing."

"Have you ever heard the phrase 'when you're in a hole, stop digging'?" Charisma asked him, drying her eyes.

"I'm not old, I'm only 31!" Tommy snapped a little bad tempered. "Besides, I'm not the oldest, Merrick was over 3,000 years old!"

"Who's Merrick?" Scott asked.

"He was another Ranger." Tommy groaned. "Look, let's get off the issue of age for a minute. I can explain all about the other Ranger teams in a minute, but let's get back to the point. The point is both Kira and I used to be Rangers. That's how Kira can emit an ultra-sonic scream, and that's what smashed the windows." Tommy stroked his temples, trying to relieve his headache as he realised this would now be the third time he had to call a glazier because of the Ptera Scream.

"So do you have any additional abilities?" He asked.

"I can make myself invisible." Tommy stated. "Colin can teleport, Charisma can generate flames around her hands, and Dippy has telekinesis."

"So am I the only one who doesn't have a secondary ability?" He asked.

"Well, you have spent most of your time since you got your powers in your morphed form, so you probably just haven't had a chance for your civilian ability to manifest."

"I still find it weird to think that you were once a Power Ranger." He commented. The others started sniggering again as he said this. "What's the joke?"

"Tommy's made a few comebacks." Dippy informed Scott.

"Really?" He gasped.

"Six times." Tommy groaned, realising he wasn't going to avoid the usual sarcastic comments he got from any other Rangers any time the subject came to his own employment record.

"Dr. O, maybe you should show him the video diary." Charisma suggested. "That really explained a whole lot to us."

"Well I wouldn't mind seeing it again." Colin remarked.

"I wouldn't mind seeing Dr. O with that mullet again." Charisma replied, causing the three to roll around, no longer able to keep their laughter to themselves.

"This is why I hate mentoring teenagers." Tommy groaned as he looked out the disc.


	12. What Next?

The gang were finishing up watching the video diary when Kira came back into the room. Tommy could see immediately that something was far wrong. She had gone completely ashen faced, and she was shaking uncontrollably as she came in.

"What is it?" He asked, rushing to his wife's side. "What's wrong?"

"That was the police on the phone." She finally managed to stammer out as Tommy sat her on the nearby couch. "They wanted to know if I've seen Barry."

"How could they know about the attack on this place already?" Charisma asked. "You haven't reported it yet have you?"

"They do have neighbours." Serendipity responded. "I'm sure someone will have called the cops."

"It's not that." Kira breathed; obviously something was seriously wrong to have shaken her up this much. "They got a call earlier today from a neighbour of Barry's mother-in-law. They said they heard gunshots from inside the apartment. Both she and Barry's husband were found dead."

Tommy held her in his arms as the others tried to take in what was happening. "They went to search for him at his house. They found his PA with her neck broken. They have an APB out for him." She looked at Tommy, unable to contain her horror any longer. "They think he did it."

"Given the way he was acting when he came round here, I think it's the best working theory." Scott interjected. Tommy gave him a little withering look as he held Kira close. This was not what she wanted to be hearing.

"He came looking for the kids." She whispered, barely audibly. "He came for the kids Tommy, he came for Frank and Emma."

"It wasn't Barry." Tommy reminded her. "The monster controlling him is what made him do this. Darksoul did this."

"I wouldn't have been able to stop him." She continued. "Tommy, we have to do something!"

"Kira, you have my word that he will not get his hands on Frank and Emma." Tommy reassured her. "I don't care what we have to do, the kids will be safe." He turned to the others, noting the somewhat uncomfortable feeling in the room as he comforted Kira. "Guys, could you…?"

"No need to say anything." Charisma interrupted, taking the hint and leading the guys out of the house. They all knew what Darksoul had in mind, and they all knew the cost of failure in their mission, but Kira wasn't the only one rattled by the night's revelation. They couldn't have been given a more direct demonstration of what would happen if they failed.

Darksoul had decided to abandon completely Barry's home and life. After all, it wasn't as if his business or his reputation would garner him much influence now. No, now that he had almost complete control over his vessel, there was no more need for misdirection. It was now time to make his presence known. Time to let the human cattle know that the time of the cull would be at hand. Yes, he could feel it, what he had been waiting on for so many millennia would soon come to fruition.

The following week went surprisingly quietly. Darksoul had not even sent a squadron of shades against the Rangers for several days. Although the comparative quiet was something to be happy about, they couldn't bring themselves out of their low ebb. Charisma arrived at the old theatre early on the Saturday morning, finding Al rehearsing his lines for the following week's production of 'A Mid-summer Night's Dream.'

She stood by the door, finding her mood momentarily lifted as she chuckled despite herself. Al had given himself the part of the mischievous Puck, and he was throwing himself into the part with his usual vigour. He didn't even notice her standing by the door.

"That was always my favourite Shakespeare play." Colin commented as he arrived behind her, causing her to jump slightly. "I loved the surreal plotline. I swear he must have been on an acid trip or something when he wrote it."

"God, don't do that!" She snapped as her heart pounded at a hundred miles an hour.

"Sorry, I couldn't help it." He laughed a little, noting the unusual panic in her reaction. He couldn't help but find it amusing that the girl who lead the team regularly into battle against daemons had been startled by something as innocuous as someone speaking directly behind her that she hadn't noticed. "My uncle has that effect on people. You just kind of zoned out for a minute."

"Did you get any sleep at all last night?" She asked him.

"You too?" He responded shaking his head. "I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. I already know from personal experience that Darksoul can see our thoughts. If he came after Mrs. Oliver and the kids, then he could try the same thing with our families."

"I just hope that he hasn't already figured out who we care about." She responded. "I mean, we still have no idea the extent of his power."

"All I know is he can't have attained his full power yet." Colin told her.

"What makes you say that?" She asked.

"The fact we're still alive." He answered a little too honestly.

Tommy sat in his house, frantically reading through volume after volume of aging old books, hoping for some inspiration, or at very least some implication of what they could expect from Darksoul next. He knew that the Rangers had held him at bay for this long, but he was sure even someone as tunnel visioned as Supay must have prepared a plan B just in case his envoy couldn't defeat the Rangers. He had never voiced his concerns to the Rangers, but he was certain there were other ways to breach the gateway.

"Tommy, you need to get some rest." Kira interrupted his thoughts as she arrived in the living room. "You haven't been to bed all night. Please, you'll be no good to anyone if you exhaust yourself."

"I went to bed for a little bit." He lied.

"I know you didn't." Kira reprimanded him.

"How?"

"I haven't slept all night either." She admitted. She moved over to the table and sat in Tommy's lap, resting her head against his shoulder. "I met Stephen and Hilary before." She sighed as she thought about them, a couple of tears already beginning to form. "Stephen was there when I went to sign my first contract. It was him that gave me the nickname 'Sparky'."

Tommy held her, kissing her neck gently as she thought about her recently murdered friends. "We'll stop Darksoul, I swear." He told her.

"Tommy, just promise me we'll be alright." She pleaded with him, looking deep into his eyes.

"You know I can't promise that." He whispered back. "All I can promise is that we won't give up."

Kira began flicking a few random pages in the book Tommy was reading. "What are you looking for?" She asked.

"I'm looking for some other way Darksoul could open the gateway." He responded. "If we can eliminate all the other options, then Darksoul will have no option but to come for the Crystal. Then at least we'll know where to expect his attack."

"Are you sure they're up to it?" She inquired.

"I have as much confidence in them as I had in you, Conner and Ethan." He answered. Suddenly, something in the pages caught his eye. "That's it!" He snapped, picking up the book Kira had been flicking through. "That's what we've been missing!"

Scott was training in Adam's gym when Dippy arrived for her daily swim. She spotted him working through some of his Kata on the exercise mats.

"Hi there." She announced, catching his attention.

Scott looked over to where she was standing, and looked away sharply. He still found it hard to look at her. Dippy noted the reaction thoughtfully. She had treid to reassure him several times that she didn't hold her abduction against him, but it didn't matter. Scott continued to blame himself for everything he'd done.

"You know, when someone says hello, it's customary to say it back." She joked as she came over to the mats.

"Hi." He forced out as he carried on with his exercises.

"Could you show me some of that?" She asked. "I know Colin's been getting lessons and I figure I could probably do with a few pointers.

"Get warmed up." He told her. "Once you're done with your swim, I'll take you through a few basics."

"Can't wait." She replied with a smile. Scott watched her go into the pool area. He didn't know why she insisted on spending so much time with him, but he couldn't say he objected. As much as it pained him when he thought about how she had suffered at his hands, for some reason she didn't hold it against him. Thinking about her attitude he thought that maybe there was something to all that Karma stuff she believed in. Maybe he could redeem himself.

While she was getting changed, Serendipity was thinking about the favour she'd asked of Scott. She probably could do with a few pointers, but that wasn't really why she wanted to spend the afternoon with him. She couldn't get him to spend much time with her, or indeed either of the others out with their Ranger duties, she reasoned that perhaps she could get him to feel more at ease in a familiar environment. Maybe spending some time training with him could get him more at ease with spending time with the team.

Colin and Charisma arrived at Tommy's house a little after noon, finding the glazier hard at work repairing the damage. He had taken care to make sure he didn't use the same guy as last time, but the expression on his face gave away the fact that he was no less curious how the windows had been blown out from the inside of the house as the last guy.

"Hey guys." Tommy greeted them. "What can I do for you?"

"We were wondering if you needed a hand with the research." Colin explained.

"It's not like we're doing anything, and we may as well use the quiet time for something." Charisma agreed.

"Come on in." Tommy responded, waving them inside. "I think I may have found something."

Dippy had dried herself off and gotten dressed by the time Scott had finished his exercise. Returning to the gym, she tied her hair back out of her face as she approached him.

"Are you ready for that lesson now?" She asked.

"Sure." He responded, moving aside to let her come onto the mats. "I'll just take you through a few basic self-defence drills. Firstly, I want you to grab me by the shirt, like you're grabbing the lapels of a jacket."

She did as he said, pulling him in towards herself. She remembered the first time she met Colin and remembered how he had gotten out of this predicament.

"What are you laughing about?" He asked.

"Just remembering when Colin broke Brad's nose." She replied truthfully. "Brad grabbed him the same way."

"Well that's one way to deal with it." Scott admitted thoughtfully. "Anyway, here's what I would do. First, you slide one leg between your opponents, and wrap it around like this." He carefully hooked her right leg with his own. "Then you push his chest hard."

Dippy found herself falling quickly to the floor, landing hard on the mats. A slight look of guilt crossed Scott's face as she winced from the impact. "I'm fine, really." She rushed out, realising he must have thought he'd hurt her. He had, but her new exercise programme was already beginning to show results. She picked herself up off the mats and confronted Scott once more. "Can I give it a go?"

"No problem." He replied, still a little concerned. He hadn't really thought this through, he hadn't meant to hurt her, and thinking about it, throwing her around was probably not the best of ideas. He grabbed her t-shirt, pulling her in. "Now, remember what I said, put your right leg through, hook it round mine and…no not like that you'll!"

The pair of them crashed to the floor as Dippy hooked his leg a little too high and slightly too tightly. She was fine, getting a soft landing on top of Scott, he wasn't so fortunate though, as her knee was driven inadvertently more than a little south of the border.

"God, Scott I'm sorry!" She yelled as he writhed on the floor in obvious pain. "I didn't mean it."

"Well it worked." He grunted. "I let go."

Dippy laughed a little as he made light of the incident, disentangling herself from him. Scott managed to sit up and tried to regain his breath. "What do you say we take a little rest before we try some more?" He asked.

"For the sake of your kids, I think that's a good idea." She giggled.

Tommy showed Colin and Charisma through to the living room where he'd been reading the whole night. Grabbing one of the books, he presented it to them.

"I mis-translated the tablet!" He explained. "It didn't say 'gateway', it said 'bridge'."

"So?" Colin grunted.

"I know why I didn't figure out why Darksoul didn't come straight for the Rangers." He read through the passage making sure he understood it correctly. "When arched bridges are built, there's one stone at the very top of the arch that carries the entire weight of the structure and holds it up."

"The keystone." Charisma observed. Noting the slightly quizzical looks from Tommy and Colin she continued. "My dad's an architect. He explained the concept of keystones when I was little."

"Anyway, the point is that as well as the Soulfire Crystal, he needs a keystone to create the bridge between Earth and Uca Pacha."

"So if we find it first and destroy it, we can stop him from ever creating the bridge." Colin responded, grasping the concept.

"Exactly." Tommy stated. "Then we'll have all the time we need to unify the power of the Crystal to destroy him for good."

"What about separating him from Barry?" Charisma asked. "Any luck on that front?"

"I'm afraid not." Tommy told her.

"So where is this keystone?" Colin asked. "Are we going to have to go on some massive quest or something?"

"Not exactly." Tommy replied. "Having studied the books quite thoroughly, I've been able to identify it as a large diamond that was excavated from the tomb of an Incan prince almost fifty years ago."

"Let me guess, you know where it is." Charisma interjected.

"Not exactly, but I know where it's going to be." He retorted, throwing down a newspaper. Looking at it, they read the headline, 'Priceless diamond to be displayed in Las Vegas museum.' "It's going on display tomorrow evening."

"Dr. O, it's not exactly like we can just walk up to the museum staff and say, 'hey there, mind if we take this diamond and destroy it?' now is it?" Colin posed the question.

"Unfortunately this is one of those times when we might have to skirt the rules a little." He replied. "As an archaeologist by training, the thought of destroying an artefact pains me, but for the sake of the planet, we may have to."

Scott and Dippy had resumed their self-defence training after their painful accident. They had been training now for some time.

"OK, here's what to do if someone grabs you around the throat." He explained, moving in closely behind her. He placed a large, strong arm around her neck, holding her close to him. Dippy felt her temperature rising as he held her in his arms, her thoughts straying a little from the exercise at hand.

"I remember a self-defence course my mom took once." She told him. "I stamp on your foot, right?"

"Try it." He challenged her. Dippy brought her foot down hard, but rather than letting go, he pulled tighter around her neck, causing her to panic a little as she felt the air leave her. He released her a short time later.

"The problem with choke holds is that once you start losing oxygen, you only have a short time before you won't have the strength to fight back. You maybe have about ten seconds to make the guy let go. If you're wearing stiletto heels, then you'll impale the guy's foot and he'll let go. Otherwise all you'll end up doing is pissing him off, and that isn't a good thing when he's already choking you."

"So what would you do?" She asked.

Scott gestured to her to grab him around the neck the same way he had to her. "Come on, a little tighter, you're trying to strangle me remember, I'm not made of glass." He remarked. Dippy pulled tighter. Feeling a slight tingle in his lips, he knew she was holding it correctly. Rotation his body to the side, he grabbed her far leg, placing one on his own behind her near leg and sat down. Dippy let go as the both fell to the floor. "Effective, isn't it?" He quipped, turning to face her.

"I'd say so." She responded. "My turn?"

"Of course." He replied, helping her up.

As Dippy repeated the manoeuvre, they found themselves once more, back on the floor. She moved over, allowing him to get back to his feet. As he did so, his shirt got caught, exposing for a second the tangled mass of scars on his upper body.

"God, is that from the accident?" She gasped as he pulled his shirt down.

"Some of it." He replied. "The doctors said it was a miracle I survived. I didn't think so at the time. All I could think about was Amaya and the fact I couldn't play piano anymore."

"Only some of it?" She asked. "Then what about…?" She stopped as he looked at her, causing her to realise what he meant. "You did some of that to yourself?"

"Some of the days were so hard." He responded with a sigh. "I could deal with injuries; there I had something to focus on. There I knew what was needed to deal with it. I couldn't do that with my feelings, so at times…"

"You shouldn't hurt yourself." She told him, coming to his side.

"I haven't in quite a while." He told her. "I don't want to hurt myself anymore. Ever since that thing forced me to face up to the fact that Amaya's gone, I haven't needed to feel the pain anymore."

Dippy wrapped her arms around him and held him close, resting her head against his chest. Scott returned the gesture and the two of them just stood there, enjoying the warmth of their embrace.

'Guys, come round to Dr. O's place.' Charisma's thoughts interrupted the moment, causing them to part a little. 'We've got important new information about Darksoul's plan.'

"Guess that's time to go." Scott commented. As he started to leave, the lights in the gym flickered a little. Looking back and forth between each other, Scott shrugged and just wrote it off as a power surge. "So are we walking?" He asked.

"If we morph, I'll let you ride pillion on my bike." She responded. "That'll save us a bit of time."

"Isn't that breaking the whole 'use our powers for personal gain' rule?" He asked.

"I won't tell if you don't." She answered him.

"So when do I get a bike?" He asked.

"Take it up with Dr. O." She replied.

Arriving at Tommy's house, after dismounting a short distance away and discreetly de-morphing, they made their way into the living room, finding Tommy, Charisma and Colin sitting in front of the pile of books they had been studying.

"What's so important?" Scott asked them.

"Dr. O thinks he's found a way we can stop Darksoul from being able to create the bridge to Uca Pacha." Charisma answered.

"Yeah, all we have to do is break into the museum tomorrow night and steal a diamond." Colin interjected.

"OK, I know I must have turned over five pages at once." Dippy commented. "You do get the concept of us being the good guys right?"

Tommy quickly explained the situation to them, filling in the blanks. "So what you're saying is that if we destroy this diamond, then it will be impossible for Darksoul to create the bridge." Scott summarised. "Fine. Didn't someone say that one of the guys on the overdrive team was good at this kind of thing? Maybe we could give him a call." The lights and the television all flickered a little, causing a few curious glances around the room.

"That's the second time today." Scott remarked. "I guess there's some problem with the local power station."

"It's only the first time." Tommy corrected him. "I had thought about Will, but he and Rose are in Florida at the moment. Besides, the fewer people who know about this the better. The last thing we want is to alert Darksoul as to what we're up to."

"I suppose." Dippy shot back. "But Dr. O, the lights. The same thing happened at the gym. What's going on?"

He thought about it carefully for a minute. "Scott, could you concentrate on that light bulb?" He asked.

Scott concentrated for a minute. After a while, the bulb grew dimmer until it was barely on. The next minute, it got brighter and brighter until it exploded without warning.

"Right, you'll want to practice with that." Tommy stated. "It looks like you've figured out what your secondary power is. You appear to be able to manipulate power sources."

"That'll definitely come in useful tomorrow night." Charisma mused. "Why worry about security when we can just have Scott turn off the power?"

"Right, everyone get some rest tonight." Tommy ordered them. "Tomorrow's going to be a long day."

Colin walked with the others as they made their way home. Serendipity was the first to split off from the group, living only a couple of blocks from Dr. O's house.

"See you guys tomorrow." She quipped, hugging Colin tightly. Scott tried his best to look like he was calm, but he was thankful that neither Dippy nor Colin were looking in his direction. His gut tightened up as he watched her leave.

Charisma shot Colin a little look out the corner of her eye. "Is there something going on there?" She asked. Scott surged quickly down the road, not wanting to hear the answer.

"Me and Dippy?" Colin asked. "No, she's just that kind of person. I kind of like that about her, but I'm not interested in her like that."

"Really?" She pressed on. "I wouldn't blame you, she's smart, she's funny…"

"I can't explain it." Colin told her. "I like her, but we'll never be more than friends. It'd be like dating my sister or something." He looked around, noting Scott's absence. "Where did he get to?"

Charisma looked around, now also noticing that Scott had disappeared. "Guess he just went off on his own." She replied with a shrug. "So come on, are you telling me you don't think Dippy's attractive?"

"Oh she's definitely attractive." He responded. "But then so are you, beautiful."

"God, will you stop with the 'Scottish charm' thing?" She groaned, turning her back on him and walking away.

Watching her go, Colin couldn't help cursing himself for his clumsy words. Why did he have to say that? He knew she had never shown an interest in him, he just hoped she treated his words as she usually did and take it as a big joke. No, the last thing he needed now was for her to not take him seriously as a team mate. Not when their most important mission lay ahead.


	13. The Keystone

Colin met up with Dippy outside the old theatre before making their way to Dr. Oliver's house. He had arranged to meet them there so he could take them to the museum to have a look around. If they were going to break in, then they needed to know the layout so they could make arrangements. The last thing they needed was to turn up on the early morning news ripping off a priceless diamond.

"Hi." She greeted him with a warm hug. "You ready for the trip?"

"It's not like it's a field trip Dippy." He reminded her. "We are casing the joint."

"Casing the joint?" She giggled. "You sound like a bad heist movie. No one talks like that anymore."

"Whatever." He replied. "Where to next?"

"Scott's place is just on the way." She told him. "Charisma said she'd meet us there."

As they arrived outside Scott's house, he watched them approach. He felt his temper flare as he realised Colin was with her. Why did she always have to be with him? Dippy had welcomed him into the group, and she was constantly forcing him to spend time around her. At first this had made him uncomfortable, but he was beginning to get over that now. She had been merciless in her efforts to force him through his guilt. He tensed up as he looked at Colin though, he couldn't stand to see them together. His mind kept coming back to the hugging. She seemed to be incapable of not throwing her arms around Colin every time they were together. Why could she not just give it a rest? They were together; he got the message, why did they feel the need to endlessly ram it down his throat?

"Hey there Scott." Dippy greeted him with a bright smile. "Looking forward to the museum?"

"Not really." He answered. "I'm only going because we'll need to see the layout."

She giggled a little as she remembered that Colin had answered much the same way.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

"Just remembering something." She replied, wrapping an arm around each of them and continuing along the path. The two of them were a lot more alike than they would like to admit.

Dr. O took them to the museum a little after 1pm. He grumbled at the ticket office when he realised that the teens had stitched him up by failing to bring enough cash for their entrance fees, meaning he was picking up the tab. Leading them inside, they began looking around the entry way.

"The door's got no cover." Colin stated. "We'd get seen coming in that way."

"How about up there?" Charisma suggested, pointing to the skylight. "Colin, could you teleport from up there?"

"Too high." He commented. "My range seems to be about thirty feet. Even if I managed to get up on the roof, I'd end up a greasy spot on the floor when I tried to teleport back down."

"Guess you're going to have to teleport in from the ground." Dippy surmised as they continued to look around the exhibit. "Any ideas what we do once we're in?"

"Once we're in, you can remove the diamond from it's case." Colin told her.

"Either that, or we can wait on these guys stealing it." Charisma yelled as dozens of shades suddenly flooded the building. Patrons of the museum began fleeing the building in terror as the four teenagers and their principal leapt to the attack.

"Is the room empty yet?" Scott asked as he dispatched the first of his opponents with a crushing back kick.

"Not quite." Charisma responded, driving one of her opponents to the floor aggressively. She watched as the last of the panicking museum goers fled the room. "Dippy, get the door." She shouted.

With only a thought, Serendipity slammed shut the only door to the main exhibit chamber, and toppled a statue across it, blocking it shut.

"The door's dealt with." She called back as she launched a couple of her opponents across the room through a display. "We're on our own now."

"Well that solved the problem of how to avoid the heat." Colin quipped, bringing down his chosen target with a barrage of elbow strikes. "When it goes missing everyone will assume these guys did it."

"That diamond belongs to me." Darksoul announced as he materialised in the room. "You will stand aside."

"Not a chance." Tommy called back. "Guys, you know what to do."

"Fire of the soul IGNITE!" They yelled together, morphing into Ranger form. Calling forth their weapons, they began ploughing wholesale through the unnatural creatures.

"You really ought to listen to me." Darksoul continued. I urge you to look outside."

Turning to the window, Charisma saw a daemon of monsterous proportions towering over the building. Resembling a hyena, it bellowed a massive roar as it swept huge claws through the air, sending civilians fleeing in all directions as it overturned vehicles like toys.

"Crap! We don't have time for this!" Colin snapped. "Charisma, what's the plan?"

"Dr. O, think you and Scott can handle this?" She asked.

"We'll have to." He shouted back. "The Megazord's needed outside. Just be quick about it."

Dippy removed the statue blocking the door, allowing them to leave.

"Dr. O, look!" Scott called out as he saw Darksoul approaching the diamond's display case.

"That's far enough Darksoul." Tommy called out, launching into a flying kick, however a powerful energy blast from Darksoul's outstretched hand repelled him, sending him to the opposite side of the room.

"Ancient armour mode!" He called out, powering up. Rushing across the room towards the evil thing, he found his way barred by shades. Carving his way through them, Scott could only watch, unable to reach Darksoul in time before he smashed open the case, seizing the diamond.

"Now I have the keystone, I have the power to once again maintain my own corporeal form." He roared triumphantly as he held the jewel to his chest. Scott watched as it sunk inside him, merging completely with the evil being. "I have no more use for this worthless wretch."

Tommy began to lift himself back to his feet, watching as the daemon separated itself from Barry.

"You have served your purpose mortal. Now you have none." He snarled. A sword appeared in Darksoul's hand. Tommy and Scott could only watch in horror as the daemon plunged it straight through him. Pulling out the blade, Darksoul faded from view and disappeared. The shades quickly followed suit, leaving them alone in the room. Tommy ran over to Barry's side and tried hard not to wretch as he saw the extent of his injury. Blood was flowing quickly from the would, leaving a pool on the floor around him.

"Tommy, I'm finished." He croaked. "Listen, I've got to tell you something…"

"Save your strength." Tommy told him. "We'll call an ambulance…"

"It's too late for that." He interrupted. "God, who'd have thought two of my best friends would turn out to be super heroes? Listen Tommy, that thing was able to take over my mind because of the sin on my soul."

"It doesn't matter." Tommy said as he watched Barry slowly getting more and more gray in the face.

"It does, I need you and Kira to know this so you can understand." He pressed on. "I was the one who ordered the hit on Dr. Black."

Tommy's jaw hung open in disbelief as Barry said this. He knew Barry had done some slightly dodgy things in the past, but he had no idea he was capable of anything like this. He remembered how the man who had kidnapped Kira with the intention of selling her babied had been executed on national television, gunned down outside the supreme court just minutes after he'd been bailed. "You can't be serious!"

"Deadly serious." He stated. "I saw what he put Kira through. I saw how terrified she was of him. I knew how scared she'd be if he had been acquitted, and I knew that scum like him can buy and sell justice, so I took matters into my own hands." He looked into Tommy's eyes, wordlessly begging for forgiveness. "I did it for you and Kira."

Tommy felt his friend's body go limp as the light of life faced from his eyes. He turned to Scott, realising he was still there. "Go and see if the others need your help." He told him.

"Dr. O, are you ok?" He asked.

Tommy just looked at him unable to answer. Of course he wasn't alright. He'd just watched one of his best friends die right in front of him. "Just go." He repeated the order. As Scott left the room, Tommy just pondered their failure to prevent Darksoul getting the diamond. Now all he needed was the Soulfire Crystal, now there was only one hope, and it accelerated their plans much further than Tommy would have liked.

Outside, the Megazord was battling the hyena daemon, though it was quickly gaining the advantage. It's powerful claws tore at the metal construct with devastating effect.

"Guys, we really need to pull this together." Charisma called out. "This guy's seriously starting to mess up our Zord."

"Need a little backup?" Scott called out, announcing his arrival. "Guys, the Zord's saying something to me. I don't understand…"

"Our Zord's are doing the same." Charisma interrupted him. "It's a new morphing sequence. We can form one Zord!"

"Right about now anything's worth a shot." Colin commented. "Ancient Inca Zord Sequence!" They chorused together.

Splitting into two pieced at the midsection, the Dragon Zord's hind section then split again down the middle, before combining with the Megazord's legs forming much heavier armour on it's legs. The head and neck folded inwards, housing themselves inside the chest as it lowered over the shoulders of the massive robot. Standing before the daemon, now a good couple of feet taller than their opponent, they watched the power levels on the display hit all new levels.

"Now this is impressive." Dippy commented.

"Time to finish him off." Charisma called out.

"Annihilation blast!" They chorused together. A huge, bright white energy wave fired from the robot's chest, completely engulfing the daemon in it's destructive pathway The daemon just pitched forwards pathetically to the ground and exploded.

"Impressive power children." Darksoul commented as he grew to a massive size. "Scott, I'll give you a chance before I destroy you all. Do you want to return to my service?"

"Not a chance in hell!" He roared back without hesitation.

"Pity, I didn't want to have to destroy you too." He commented as he cast forth a dark purple lightning bolt which decimated the Zord's power levels.

"Guys, the Zords have pretty much had it." Colin shouted. "Bail out."

The Rangers leapt from the Zord as another blast caused them to fade from view, back to their hiding places to activate self repairs.

"Now for you four." Darksoul sneered. "Let's see how much your togetherness and teamwork holds up when I banish you to another plane of existence."

With a wave of his hand, the four Rangers disappeared. "Now that they're gone, there's no challenge for me here." Darksoul commented. "I will follow them into the nether realm and destroy them there. Once I have the Crystal, I will come back to complete my mission."

With that, Darksoul also faded from sight, leaving the devastation of their battle in his wake.

The four Rangers found themselves, unmorphed, somewhere deep in a tropical jungle of some description. They could remember being defeated in their battle with Darksoul, but they had no memory of how they'd gotten here.

"Is everyone ok?" Charisma asked, getting to her feet first.

"Define ok." Scott commented. "We have no idea where we are, how we got here, or, more importantly, how to get back."

"God I was only kidnapped a couple of weeks ago." Dippy groaned. "This is getting beyond a joke."

"Well we all appear to be uninjured." Colin stated. "That's one thing at least. Anyone got any ideas what we should do now?"

Noticing a large, stepped pyramid a little way to the south, Charisma pointed it out. "We should go that way." She suggested. "That's the only man-made structure I can see, maybe we can find someone who can help."

"In the absence of a better plan, I say we go with it." Colin concurred with the suggestion.

As the four headed in the direction of the pyramid, they failed to notice the strange, monkey-like creatures following them in the trees overhead.

Tommy arrived back at his house, the gravity of the days events weighed heavily on him. Kira came through from the living room to greet him, but suddenly lost her train of thought as she saw him.

"Tommy, you're covered in blood." She breathed. "What happened?"

"Darksoul got the keystone." Tommy informed her. "He defeated the Zords and sent the guys somewhere. I have no idea where they are."

"What happened to your clothes?" She asked. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine." He reassured her. "Kira, I have some bad news. The keystone gave Darksoul the power to maintain a corporeal form without posessing Barry." He breathed a deep sigh. "Kira he's dead."

She moved towards him, holding Tommy in her arms. "Tommy, you tried, I know you did."

"He told me something before he died." He told her. "He wanted me to tell you so you would understand. Kira, he hired the guy who killed Dr. Black."

Kira pulled back a little, looking at Tommy in disbelief at what she had heard.

"He did it because he knew how terrified you were of him." He continued. "He did it so that there was no way he could hurt you again."

"I can't believe he's gone." She breathed.

"He did a terrible thing." Tommy said, holding her. "But at heart he was a good man."

Back in the jungle, the four Rangers approached the pyramind, slowly pushing their way through the thick undergrowth.

"Damn!" Charisma protested as yet another tree scratched her skin. "These bloody trees are a real pain in the ass."

"How much further?" Serendipity grumbled.

"Not even half a mile by the looks of it." Colin remarked, craning his neck to look as far through the foliage as he could. "We should be arriving there soon."

Scott started looking around nervously as his ears picked up a strange noise.

"Guys, does anyone else feel like we're being watched?" He asked.

"Nothing here but birds by the looks of it." Colin answered.

"I'm sure I heard something." Scott repeated the suspicion.

"Hey look at that thing." Dippy chimed in, pointing out a strange, monkey-like creature settling on a nearby branch. It was about four feet tall with bright green fur. It had large, almost humanoid eyes which glared at them with a considered gaze. Large, bat-like ears projected out from the top of it's head. It's hands and feet all appeared to have the dexterity of a human hand, allowing it to grip the branch with it's feet. A long, prehensile tail thrashed about behind it. "It's kind of cute, don't you think?"

"There's what you've been hearing." Colin told him. "It's obviously whatever creature's native here. It seems pretty harmless."

The creature gave out a little chirping sound as it retreated to the treetops. A hail of crude arrows cascaded down from the treetops. More of the strange creatures appeared from their hiding places, brandishing bows.

"Yeah, real harmless." Scott quipped sarcastically.

Serendipity waved her arms frantically to no avail. "Guys, I can't use my telekinesis."

Colin grabbed her and tried to teleport. "I've not got any powers either." He responded. "Any ideas?"

"Fire of the soul IGNITE!" Charisma yelled, but to no effect. "Guys, we can't morph either."

Another hail of arrows came down. Seeing some of them head towards Charisma, Colin grabbed her and turned his back to them, three of them painfully piercing his right shoulder.

"Bugger!" He yelled as he fell to his knees. "I don't know about you guys, but I vote for plan 'run like hell'."

Sounds good to me." Scott replied, grabbing Colin and helping him to his feet.

"To the pyramid." Charisma shouted. "Hurry."

The three ran as quickly as they could through the remaining undergrowth, arriving outside the pyramid, Serendipity and Charisma frantically searched for a door.

"There's got to be a way inside." Scott bellowed as he ducked another volley of arrows.

"Up there." Charisma called out, pointing to a cave about half way up the central flight of stairs.

"Do we know inside's going to beany less dangerous?" Serendipity asked.

"It's probably preferrable to sticking around and waiting to be shish kebabed by these furballs." Colin grumbled, dragging himself up the stairs. "Come on."

Filing inside the building, the four gathered in the entrance hall. Colin held his shoulder, grumbling as he tugged gently on one of the arrows.

"They're barbed." He told them. "This is going to hurt like hell. Scott, can you pull them out?"

"Are you sure?" He asked. "We could always wait until we're back."

"I can't get the wounds dressed until the arrows are out." He answered him. Grabbing one of the arrows, he waited for the nod from Colin, and yanked it out hard.

"God that hurts!" He shouted. "One down, two to go."

Serendipity turned away, unable to watch the painful scene any longer. Charisma came to his side, placing her hands on his arms to brace him for the next arrow. Colin looked into her dark brown eyes as he prepared for the remaining two arrows coming out.

"Bloody hell!" He yelled as the second arrow was yanked roughly from the wound. Looking into her eyes once more, he felt the pain pass as he prepared for the last one.

"Argh, Ok, I now officially hate archery." He stated. Charisma inspected the wounds carefully. "Dippy, could you come here for a second?"

Charisma grabbed the sleeve of Dippy's blouse, tearing it off at the shoulder. Wrapping it as tightly as she could around his shoulder, she tied it roughly holding it in place.

"Sorry I couldn't come up with anything better." She apologised.

"It'll have to do." Colin replied. "Thanks."

"There's only one path." Scott pointed out. "Let's go."

Tommy sat nervously by the phone waiting on Hayley's phone call. As usual when he had run out of ideas, he turned to Reefside's resident genius for assistance.

"She'll find them." Kira reassured him. "She always comes through."

"I hope so Kira." Tommy replied. "If we can't get them back, then we'll never be able to defeat Darksoul."

"We have to Tommy." She told him. "We owe it to Barry."

The Rangers finally made it to the centre of the pyramid, finding themselves in a large central arena, surrounded on all sides by high stone walls. As they tried to leave the way they came, a barred metal door came down, barring their only path out of the arena.

"Why do I feel like that doesn't bode well for us?" Colin asked.

"Because it doesn't young Rangers." Darksoul announced, appearing in front of them. "I will make this a little more sporting. If you can get past me, and enter this portal, then you will be free of this place." He pointed his sword at the wall behind himself, opening a dark, shimmering portal.

"Here's the plan guys." Charisma began. "We don't have a prayer of defeating him without our powers, so try to just get past him. Scott and I are the strongest fighters, so we'll distract him. You two just make a run for the portal."

"A fine plan young lady." Darksoul complimented him. "But I wouldn't want to make things that easy."

As he shifted into a guarding position, three clones of himself appeared, taking position opposite each of the Rangers. To their surprise, normal versions of their weapons appeared in their hands. "Call it a gift to make thing interesting."

"Oh crud." Colin remarked. "This is so not good!"


	14. Heart of a Fallen Warrior: Part One

Hayley tried everything she could think of to try and locate the Rangers, she had scanned pretty much every planet within reach and was fast running out of dimensions to search. She wished Conner was there, she remembered how his bumbling had jarred her computer into action when she tried to free Tommy from Mezagog's clutches and had now tried kicking the computer about a dozen times, but all she succeeded in doing was causing a minor short, which she had fixed, and giving herself a sore foot.

"Damn it all, why does every bad guy in existence seem to have some alternative dimension to send Rangers to?" She grumbled.

Back in the pyramid's central arena, Darksoul and his clones began advancing on the Rangers.

"Guys, remember, we just have to get past them." Charisma reminded them. "If you get a chance to get through the portal, make a break for it."

Scott surged forward, swinging his naginata in huge, sweeping arcs at his elected opponent.

"You know Scott, it's not too late to change your mind and rejoin the winning team." His opponent taunted him.

"Just remember that Ali beat Frazier in the 14th round in Manila." He snapped. "Never declare a winner until the bell rings."

"Dippy rounded quickly on her opponent, blocking the swing of his sword, before using her free weapon to disarm him. To her shock, the sword disappeared, reappearing in his hand quickly afterwards.

"Nice try child." Darksoul sneered as he took another swing. Dippy was only just able to get out of the way as the sword crashed against the arena wall.

Charisma bellowed a huge cry as she swung her chain weapon against her own opponent. He caught the end of it, pulling sharply and ripping the weapon from her grasp as she stumbled to the floor.

"You really think you're fit to lead a team against me?" He asked her. "Why, you aren't even to keep a hold of your weapon."

He surged forward with a lunging, horizontal slash, which Charisma managed to roll under, retrieving her weapon as she did so. Swinging the weapon around, she hooked his right foot, and pulled hard, sweeping him from his feet. "Not bad for a child." She snarled, swinging one of the heavy, weighted spheres towards his head. Darksoul rolled out of the way just in time as the weight slammed into the ground right where his head had been.

"Not bad, but none of you will leave here alive." He responded.

As Colin's opponent advanced, swinging his sword wildly, Colin struggled to maintain a guard. Each blow smashed aside his Claymore, and he was only barely able to get the weapon between himself and the sword. Attempting an overhead swing, he let out a huge cry of pain as his arm just gave out beneath the weight of the massive sword and it fell uselessly to the ground.

"Oh, feeling the pain a little?" Darksoul goaded him. "Perhaps I should just end your misery."

Colin ran forward, driving his shoulder into the armoured warrior's abdomen, and grabbing both his legs, driving him to the ground. A massive sweep of his armoured gauntlet connected with Colin's skull, forcing him off him.

"Colin!" Dippy called out, momentarily distracted by his plight. Her own opponent grabbed her roughly around the neck from behind, and began squeezing her throat.

"Perhaps I shall allow you enough oxygen to watch your friend die before I terminate you." He suggested. As she felt her lips tingling and her strength beginning to fail her, she suddenly remembered the lessons Scott had given her in the gym. Quickly rotating her body to the side, she placed her leg behind Darksoul's near leg, and grabbed his other before rolling backwards, bringing both of them to the floor. Seizing the opportunity quickly while she still had the element of surprise, she straddled his chest and drove her bladed weapons into his throat with all the strength she could muster. The clone's head separated from it's body and quickly turned to dust. Dippy ran across the arena, throwing one of her fans over to Colin as she did so.

"Colin, catch!" She yelled. Catching the weapon, he closed it into it's rod form and drove it as hard as he could into the joint in the creature's armour at it's midsection.

Letting out a huge scream, the creature staggered backwards before Dippy drove her remaining fan into the back of it's knee, driving it into a kneeling position. She then snatched up Colin's discarded Claymore, and with all the strength she could muster, removed the clone's head and watched as it too crumbled to dust.

"Things are looking up for the good guys." Colin remarked, picking up a sword one of the clones had dropped. "But we're not out yet. Dippy, you help Scott, I'll go for Charisma."

Scott wasn't faring badly against his chosen opponent, the two seemed quite evenly matched, neither one able to find an opening to exploit, before Dippy drove the Claymore through the creature's legs, crushing armour and flesh like paper beneath it's weight. Scoot seized the opportunity, and with a massive spinning attack, struck it's head from it's shoulders.

"One to go." Scott commented. "Which means it's the real one. We can expect him to be more powerful."

Colin arrived at Charisma's side, taking up position. She noted the way his arm hung uselessly at his side, and the T-shirt and makeshift bandage were now covered in blood.

"Colin, leave me to take care of this. You get to the portal." She commanded.

"Not a chance." He snapped back. "No one gets left behind."

"This is not up for discussion." She reiterated. "I have an idea."

"Charisma, I'm not leaving you!" He shouted back.

"Oh yes you are." Scott called out, rushing over and grabbing him roughly, before launching him through the portal.

Back in Reefside, Hayley's scanners burst into life as alarms sounded everywhere. Picking up the phone and hitting speed dial, she called Tommy.

"Please say this is good news." Tommy rushed out.

"There's a Ranger energy signature at the site of their last battle." She told him. "It's Colin."

"I'll get there as soon as I can. Keep us posted." He responded as he hung up the phone and grabbed his car keys.

Back in the Pyramid, the remaining three Rangers circled Darksoul thoughtfully.

"Dippy, leave me one of your Razor fans and go." She ordered her. "Scott and I will deal with this."

Dippy handed her one of the fans and sprinted through the portal, leaving Charisma and Scott to face him.

"Such optimism child." Darksoul chuckled. "You can't defeat me when you're together and you actually have powers. What makes you think you have a chance now?"

Charisma swung her chain weapon out wide, causing Darksoul to ignore the attack, but a sharp flick of her wrist brought it back inwards, wrapping around him, pinning his arms to his sides. She rushed forward, closing the fan and rammed it through the links, twisting it to secure the chains. She spin-kicked him to the floor, before throwing the free end of the chain to Scott.

"Use your weapon to pin him to the floor" She yelled. Scott drove the naginata into the floor through a link in the chain with all his strength. "You're right Darksoul, we couldn't defeat you here, but you forget. We don't have to defeat you, just hold you up a little."

With that, the remaining two Rangers sprinted through the portal as Darksoul screamed his defiance, and pushing against the chains he snapped them, though not in time to stop his enemies leaving this plane of existence.

"You may have escaped, but I now have the Keystone." He growled. "The time for the end of your pathetic world will soon be at hand."

Arriving back in Vegas, Charisma and Scott were greeted as Colin and Dippy came over.

"You made it!" Serendipity shrieked with excitement as she threw her arms around a somewhat surprised Scott. "I can't believe we made it!"

Tommy arrived in his car behind them, breathing a sigh of relief as he hit the speed dial "Hayley, it's Tommy. They're back."

"That's a relief." She breathed. "The only lead I had was the energy fluctuation in that area, and even that's disappeared now."

"What happened to you guys?" Tommy asked as he ended the call.

"Darksoul said he sent us to another plain of existence." Serendipity explained. "There we didn't have our powers, and we had to fight Darksoul without our powers so we could get through the portal to get back."

"Another plain of existence?" Tommy commented. "Well that's a new one on me, no wonder Hayley couldn't find you. You literally didn't exist anymore."

"Well as fascinating as all this is, I would really like to get going." Colin remarked, his breathing quite slow and heavy. "I'd really like to get these wounds properly looked at."

"Colin, are you alright?" Charisma asked with a look of concern on her face. He had grown quite pale, and appeared to be sweating quite badly. He seemed to sway a little uneasily as he stood before them.

"I'm sure it's just blood loss." He responded, his eyes feeling quite heavy as he made his way over towards the car. "I'll be fine."

With that, he suddenly lost all his strength and keeled over, being caught as he fell by Scott. Tommy felt his forehead and checked his eyes.

"Guys, he's as cold as ice, but he's sweating." Tommy stated. "It looks like he's been poisoned. Scott, get him into the car."

A couple of hours later, Tommy had gotten the team back to the house, and put Colin into the guest room. They had initially hoped that the poison would not last long, but that hope was fading quickly. If anything, he was getting worse. They had virtually cocooned him in blankets, but he couldn't stop shivering, and still felt cold to the touch. He was sweating so profusely that dehydration was becoming an issue, and they had to regularly give him water to prevent any further complications. As Kira was checking on him, Dippy came into the kitchen where she found Charisma nervously chewing her nails.

"Hey, are you OK?" She asked.

"Because of Colin I am." She answered. "Dippy, those arrows were coming for me. They were headed straight for my chest. Colin took those shots for me. It should have been me in that bed."

"If those arrows had hit you in the chest, you probably wouldn't have lived long enough to get back here." Dippy told her. "Most poisons work by making their way to the heart. Colin's bloodstream won't have pumped it into his heart yet. If you'd been hit in the chest, it would have reached your heart in seconds."

"Why did he put himself at risk like that?" She asked. "There was no reason for him to endanger himself like that. He wasn't morphed, he knew those arrows could've been lethal."

"That's just the sort of person Colin is." Dippy told her, stroking her hair reassuringly. "He'd have taken that hit for any of us. He always puts the people he cares about before himself."

"I hope he makes it." Charisma sobbed, a few tears beginning to roll down her face. "If he dies because of me I'll never be able to forgive myself."

Dippy pulled her friend into a warm, comforting hug, standing wordlessly in the kitchen as they supported each other in their time of need. Kira came into the kitchen, causing everyone to look round at her.

"He's not getting any better." She informed the group. "Tommy, I can bandage wounds as good as the next person, but this is way outside my area of expertise. We need someone who knows what we're up against."

"Dippy, take the Condor Zord and pick up Hayley from Reefside." Tommy commanded. The others looked at him a little quizzically. "Guys, it's probably his only hope."

"I'll be back as quickly as I can." She breathed, stroking Charisma's back and leaving the room. Scott watched her leave thoughtfully. He knew how he felt about her, but he was certain she was with Colin. It pained him to think that he had wanted them to not be so close, but even he couldn't have wished for anything like this to happen. No, if she wanted to be with Colin, then he would respect that. If Colin pulled through, he would stand aside, regardless of how much it would hurt him to do so. Serendipity deserved to be happy, he would just have to learn to live with the fact that it wouldn't be with him.

"Scott, could you take him up some more water?" Tommy asked him. Scott stared at him for a few seconds. He hadn't really been paying attention, it was only as Tommy pointed to the sink, he realised what he had asked.

"Sorry, I was a million miles away." He responded as he grabbed a glass and filled it, before heading upstairs.

Colin lay in the bed, shivering uncontrollably. The venom running through his system assaulted all his senses mercilessly. All he could hear was his own heartbeat in his ears, while bright, vivid colours flashed before his eyes, freaking him out to no end. He was only vaguely aware of another person entering the room.

"Is it you? Are you ok?" He stammered barely coherently. She poison had caused him to go a little delirious, and he was babbling constantly. "I need you to be ok? Are you ok?"

Scott propped Colin's head up a little, pouring some water into his mouth. As the first mouthful went down, he felt his heart sink, but he knew he had made the right decision. Although he was delirious, he would have been in no condition mentally to lie, so he knew that Colin was telling the truth, though was unaware he was doing so. Checking to make sure no one was entering the room; he pulled a little closer to Colin.

"I want you to know. I'm not happy about it, but I accept the fact you love each other." He told him in a serious tone. "I promise that if you pull through I'll not do anything to stand in your way."

"Who are you? Stand in my way? Were you in my way? What are you talking about?" Colin continued to babble nonsensically.

"One of the reasons we don't get along is because I'm jealous of the fact you're with her." Scott explained. "But that's my problem. She's happy with you…"

"I'm not with her. I love her but I'm not with her." He stammered hysterically interrupting him. "Not fair, I love her and she doesn't notice. She doesn't know I exist."

Scott was suddenly curious by what he said. He wasn't with her? He loved her and she didn't notice? Clearly the poison was stronger than he thought. "But you're always together. You're always hugging. She doesn't stop hugging you. It's painful to watch."

"What are you talking about? Not always hugging. She doesn't let people in." The gibberish was just flowing thick and fast by now. Scott couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Are you talking about Serendipity?" He asked sarcastically.

"No, Charisma." He replied.

Scott gave him some more water as he tried to make sense of what Colin had just told him. He really wasn't with Dippy. He felt guilty about knowing, Colin would most likely never have told him if he had been compos mentis, it was an invasion of his privacy. It was abusing the fact that he was vulnerable, but he now knew that Colin was in love with Charisma. He almost wished he didn't know that, but at least it made his own feelings for Serendipity a little easier to deal with. Leaving the room and leaving Colin to his rest, he went back downstairs to the others.

Hayley was just closing up the Cyberspace café when she saw the shadow move quickly past the window. Tommy had already called her and warned her to expect Serendipity. She knew what was going on, and she had already looked out some basic medical supplies. She wasn't a qualified doctor by any means, but she had patched up the Rangers enough times back in the day to have a fair idea what she was doing.

"You must be Hayley." Dippy snapped, greeting her with a polite handshake. "Our ride's out the back. Do you have everything you need?"

"Sure do." Hayley replied, gathering the last of her belongings and following the Yellow Ranger out. "Hurry, we might not have much time."

"Don't worry." Dippy reassured her. "This thing's even faster than those bikes you built for us."

Charisma sat at the kitchen table absent-mindedly playing with a can of soda that she had opened, but hadn't even begun to drink. The only thing she could think about was Colin and what was happening to him. It was bad enough that he had been hit by those arrows, but now they knew they were poisoned. Her heart hadn't been resting for a second since he had keeled over in the street earlier in the day. She always admired his courage, but now she found herself cursing him for it. He was brave to the point of stupidity; he always seemed to end up throwing himself into harm's way without thinking things through to save others.

She recalled a time before all this happened, before they'd even become Rangers. Colin, without even knowing her, had taken on Brad, the captain of the wrestling team, and two of his friends because they were hassling her. He had only briefly met her once before then when they bumped into each other in the bagel shop down the street from the school, and she had been anything but nice to him, but that didn't matter to him. As far as he was concerned, she was in trouble and he helped out without a thought for himself.

It pained her to realise that he was laid up because of her. Those arrows had her name on them, but once again, Colin took it upon himself to intervene. His life now hung in the balance because he couldn't just stand back and let her take the hit that was coming her way. Taking a long gulp as she choked back her tears, she remembered that day on the bank of the duck pond. Again, he hadn't known her long, and she had continued to be her usual, distant, stubborn self. He had reprimanded her about it himself the day before for taking on a group of shades single-handed out of pig-headed pride. But on that day, despite how she treated him, he had gone to the trouble of finding a pair of pink lilies for her just because the loss of the ones she had found upset her so much. He didn't even know the significance of the flowers, but he got them anyway. It was on that day she told him she trusted him and finally relented to letting other people into her life.

"Charisma." Kira whispered, catching her attention. "There's no need to beat yourself up about this. There's no reason to feel guilty."

"How can I not feel guilty?" She sniffed. "If Colin hadn't pulled me out the way of those arrows…"

"Like Dippy said, you'd probably be dead." Kira told her. "It's a normal feeling. I went through something similar when my parents died."

"What happened?" Charisma asked her.

"They came to pick me up at the airport and a truck driver fell asleep at the wheel and hit our car at 65 mph." She informed her. "I had my morpher with me, so I activated it to try and save us, but I didn't see the truck in time. The Dino Gem power saved my life, but my parents never survived. I felt so alone and hurt and angry that I ended up resenting the fact that I got out of the car alive. Tommy was the one who made me realise that it wasn't anything to be ashamed of and it wasn't anything to be angry about. The only way you'll make Colin's actions a futile gesture is if you give up now."

"Damn that bloody Sir Galahad!" She roared, slamming her can down on the table hard. "He always has to be the martyr! Why can't he just…"

"So this is how you're going to cope now?" Kira asked her. "Getting mad at him?"

"I don't know what else to do." Charisma replied in a gentle, defeated whisper. "There's nothing useful I can do for him. I can't help him."

"I'm sure just knowing you're here will help him." Kira told her, holding the young girl tightly. "He's fighting for his life up there right now because he knows there are people who care about him to come back for. That's the most useful thing you can do for him now."

Dippy and Hayley arrived in the door a short while later. Moving through to the kitchen, Dippy de-morphed. "How is he?" She asked.

"Unfortunately he's not improving." Kira responded. "Hi Hayley, I wish you could have visited under better circumstances."

"Me too." She said, hugging her former charge. "Where is he?"

"He's in the guest room." Kira told her, leading her upstairs.

"I really hope he's alright." Dippy said, moving over to Scott, holding him. Scott returned the gesture, holding her warmly as the three awaited word on their friend's condition.

Hayley could tell within a couple of minutes that Colin was not going anywhere any time soon. He was by now almost completely unaware of his surroundings.

"Tommy, we'll need to keep an eye on him overnight." Hayley informed him. "Call his family and tell them he's sleeping over or something."

"Kira, it is absolutely vital we keep him hydrated. Keep the water coming." She continued. Kira left the room quickly to get more water as Hayley took a blood sample. Smearing a little on a slide, she placed it into her specially converted laptop. "Ok there, let's see what we're up against."

The others sat wordlessly as Tommy hung up the phone. He hated to lie to Colin's uncle, especially when he knew that he could potentially die, but he knew that there was nothing else Colin's uncle could do for him that wasn't being done already. All calling the old theatre owner would do was raise a lot of uncomfortable questions about how exactly his nephew had been shot by poisoned arrows on a trip to the museum with his principal.

"I'm going up to see him." Charisma announced. Realising that Colin was probably still delirious and would probably blurt out his true feelings again, Scott came over to her side and gently grabbed her arm. "If there was anything you could do, I'm sure Hayley would tell you." He said soothingly. "I think the best thing we can do is give Kira and Hayley room to work."

"Get your hand off me!" She snarled, ripping her arm away. "I'm going to see him, and I'm going now!"

"Scott's right." Tommy said, barring the door. "There's nothing we can do for him up there right now."

"Get out of the way!" She shrieked, flailing wildly and pounding her fists into Tommy's chest before she collapsed into him weeping hysterically. Tommy held her in his arms as the others gathered round her. They knew she felt bad about what had happened to Colin, but no one could have foreseen her taking it this hard. Hayley arrived back in the room a short time later with a serious look on her face.

"It's not good news I'm afraid." She began. "It's a plant-based poison called 'death by dawn'. There's no known antidote, only a handful of people have ever survived it's effects."

"How?" Charisma asked, her tears coming a little more freely now. "What can we do?"

"That's just it. There's nothing we can do." Hayley informed them. "The people who survived fought the poison on their own. It's all up to Colin." She shook her head a little and let out a sigh. "If he can't fight through the fever and the delirium within the next few hours, he'll almost certainly die."


	15. Heart of a Fallen Warrior: Part Two

Colin's mind raced through his subconscious as he slept through the worst of the symptoms. Hayley had expressed concerns that his heart rate and pulse had dropped dramatically in the last hour, but he seemed to be stabilising now. It wasn't an especially good sign that he's lost consciousness, but at least he didn't seem to be suffering. Hayley would have preferred it if he had remained conscious so she could determine quickly if things were getting worse.

"How is he?" Kira asked as she arrived back in the room.

"He's much the same." Hayley replied. "He isn't deteriorating, but at the moment that's all I can say."

"I just wish there was something we could do." Kira sighed. "I mean, if there was some antidote or some treatment then we wouldn't have to just sit around feeling useless."

"How are the kids taking it?" She asked.

"Tommy managed to convince Dippy and Scott to go home and get some rest." Kira informed her. "Charisma's just the same though. It's really hit her hard, she blames herself. She refuses to leave the house until she hears some news."

"Well we're all in for a long wait." Hayley remarked as she looked around at the way Colin was thrashing around in his sleep. "I doubt anything short of the earth exploding is going to bring him around any time soon."

Inside his mind, Colin wandered around a barren, lifeless desert. He couldn't seem to see any signs of recognisable architecture as he continued in the hope of finding out just where in the hell he was. A vaguely familiar voice seemed to be calling him in one direction. Having no better plans, he decided to follow it. Surely it was a better plan than just standing around doing nothing.

Wandering for what seemed like hours, he was completely baffled as the desert seemed to drift away into nothing. It was nothing but black void in all directions as she continued to follow the voice. As the world began to shimmer and take shape once more, he looked around frantically in all directions in complete bemusement as he realised where he was.

"Kelvingrove Park?" He gasped a little surprised as he recognised the comparatively rare patch of greenery in the otherwise grey and lifeless city. Looking around for confirmation, he got it. To his west was Kelvingrove Art Gallery, the transport museum and Kelvin Hall. Barely visible a short way from there was the Royal infirmary. Looking to the north, he saw Park Circus. "I left Glasgow ages ago." He commented.

Making his way over to the front entrance of the art gallery, his confusion was only heightened as it suddenly turned into the dead of night without explanation. He saw a large, powerful black Kawasaki motorcycle approaching and skidding to a halt a short way from where he stood. The rider was wearing faded blue jeans, and a heavy black leather riding jacket with Kevlar plates for protection. Getting off the bike with a little hop, the rider whipped off his helmet and began bounding enthusiastically up the stairs. The face was a little younger, and his hair was longer, but Colin could immediately recognise his younger self. Heading up the stairs he saw that he was coming to meet a silver-haired, slightly wrinkled man in his early fifties and a man around his own age wearing full racing leathers who looked so much like the other man, that their relationship as father and son could not be denied.

"I think the words you're looking for gentlemen are 'holy crap'!" The young Colin chimed in with a youthful combination of arrogance and enthusiasm. "Along the Kingston Bridge and back again without a police tail in less than ten minutes!"

"See dad, I told you this guy was the best!" The young man in riding leathers chirped with excitement. "I told you, we get him that bike and he could make you a bloody fortune!"

"Well he definitely seems to be fast Callum." His father commented. "My son says your name's Colin. Mind if I call you Colin?"

"Buy me that bike Mr. MacArthur and you can call me Jessica for all I care." He answered.

"Well I applaud your enthusiasm." Macarthur chuckled. "Call me Jack. All my business partners do. Anyway, here's the deal. I give you that bike, and I pay your stake in all your races, and when the purse comes back, we split it 70/30."

"Well I was going to offer you 50/50, but if you only want 30 that's your business." Colin said cheekily. Noting the expression on the older man's face, he realised he hadn't taken it as a joke. "Sorry, just my sense of humour. Anyway, where do I sign?"

"Kid, I come from a different generation." Jack replied. "In my time we did a deal over a handshake, and a man's word was taken as being as binding as a contract."

"Handshake it is." Colin responded, shaking the older man by the hand. "I won't let you down sir."

"I hope not." Jack told him. "Anyway, the bike's yours. Enjoy."

As Colin watched his younger self ride off into the distance, he suddenly couldn't contain his confusion any longer.

"What the hell's this all about?" He asked. "Why am I remembering this?"

"Maybe I can help you with that." The voice came from behind him. Turning around slowly, he saw her before him. She was 5'3" with long, brunette hair reaching most of the way down her back. She wore tight-fitting blue jeans and a red sweatshirt with a designer logo across the chest. She smiled at him with bright, white teeth and deep blue eyes. "Hello Colin. Bet you never thought you'd see me again."

"Yvonne?" He gasped as he observed his former girlfriend. Walking up to her, looking at her more closely, the shock on his face was obvious as she reached forward and stroked his face gently. "But, you're dead. How can you be here? How can you ...?" He looked around as he remembered that he wasn't really in Scotland. He was in Vegas. The poison! "Am I dead?" He asked.

"Not yet." She answered with a small smile. "But it won't be much longer. I just thought you might like a friendly face to guide you in."

Colin smiled as she wrapped an arm around him, holding him close. "It's just this way." She told him as they continued walking. The scene shimmered and disappeared back into black void as she lead him to their next destination.

Charisma sat in the kitchen, her head and chest by now lay across the table. She had refused to go anywhere until she knew the outcome of Colin's plight. He'd risked his life, possibly even given his life for her, so the least she could do was wait until she knew what was going to happen. She owed him that much at least. She had vowed to stay awake, but it had been a draining day between the battle and the emotional barrage, and exhaustion had finally claimed her. Seeing her slumped over the kitchen table, Tommy had resolved to just leave her there. It wasn't ideal, but at least while she was asleep, she wasn't in hysterics, and that at very least was an improvement.

Her mind still continued to focus on Colin. It wasn't fair. He was a courageous and passionate person. More than any of the team he constantly amazed her with his heart and his determination. She knew she was stubborn, but he was just as headstrong and was one of the few who would challenge her. A little smile came to the corner of her lips as she thought about this. That was when the thought came to her that eased her mind a little. 'If he's stubborn enough to put up with me, then there's no way he'll lie down to this poison.'

Scott and Dippy had been sent home, but they hadn't gone. They were in no mood to face their parents, and there was no way they could sleep tonight. Sitting on a short wall by the local supermarket, Dippy rested her head on his shoulder as he held her close.

"Scott, do you think he'll pull through?" She asked. She didn't want to hear any of the factual, honest and thoroughly depressing truths that Hayley had given them since diagnosing the cause of his problem.

"If any of us could it's him." Scott replied. "You and Colin are the most courageous people I've ever met."

"Me?" She asked, turning to look him in the face.

"The way you stood up to me and that thing was amazing." Scott told her, reminding her of his time working for Darksoul. "You never gave up on me once. You were the one who reached me, and you didn't do it with force. You did it with your mind and your heart. You talked to me and got me to open up when you knew your life was in danger." He placed his forehead against her own and looked into her eyes. "After the accident, when I found out I couldn't play anymore, I just gave up on everything. I've seen the way you are, the way you still see the good in the world and refuse to give up is something I really admire. It's amazing."

"I wasn't always like that." She admitted. "I spent a lot of time feeling sorry for myself too."

Scott gently brushed some hair out of her face with his thumb. She felt her heart racing a little at his touch. The rough bandaging on his hand came in stark contrast to his soft, warm flesh. She took his right hand in her own, and looked at it thoughtfully. "Can I see it?" She asked.

Scott retrieved his hand and looked at it thoughtfully. He couldn't stand to look at it himself, that's why he still wrapped it in bandages and hid it beneath his fingerless gloves. The only people he'd ever let see it were the surgeons, and even they had given up ages ago. Looking into her eyes one more time, he pulled off his glove and began unravelling the binding.

Dippy took his hand as he finished unwrapping it and began running her fingers gently over the tangled, raised mass of scar tissue covering the back of his hand. Turning it over, she stroked his palm, before lifting it to her face, allowing him to stroke her cheek. "Thank you." She breathed, returning his hand.

"You're the only one I've ever shown." He informed her as he began re-wrapping his hand. Dippy leaned in a little closer and placed a hand on his cheek, gently turning his face towards hers and placed a soft kiss on his lips.

"I thought you were into Colin." He replied with a little surprise.

"Colin and I are close, but I've never thought about him like that." She replied.

The moment seemed to last forever as Scott reached forward, placing a hand on the back of her head and pulled her in towards him, pulling her into a long, warm kiss.

"What a touching moment!" They heard Darksoul's voice. Looking around, they couldn't see him anywhere. "Oh don't flatter yourselves. I won't sully my hands for just two of you. No, I'll just let them deal with you."

At that, a large group of shades appeared all around them.

"Great, like I really need this right now." Dippy screeched. "Like worrying about Colin isn't bad enough."

"Well just use that." Scott replied. "Think of hammering these jokers as catharsis."

"Catharsis?" She asked, slightly surprised at hearing Scott use such a word. "You've been listening to Colin haven't you?"

"Hard not to." Scott responded. "He hardly ever shuts up."

With that, they gave each other a knowing nod before launching into the attack.

Colin and Yvonne arrived at the next destination. Looking around, Colin recognised MacArthur's nightclub in Glasgow's trendy West End. The fact that no music was playing and no customers were in the bar informed him that the club was closed. Yvonne sat in the corner of the room surrounded by exercise books. As Colin and the Yvonne by his side neared her, she laughed a little.

"Remember this day?" She asked.

"How could I forget?" Colin retorted as he looked over to the girl at the table. "This was the day we met."

The younger Colin entered the room via the back door and made his way to the bar. He grabbed a bottle of Vodka and began pouring himself a drink.

"Hey!" Yvonne shrieked from her table, more than a little annoyed at the cheek of this intruder just helping himself to her dad's stock. "Who in the hell do you think you are?"

"Jack told me to meet him here." He answered. "He said to make myself at home. Just fixing myself a little drink while I wait."

"Am I just meant to believe you?" She asked, coming over to the bar.

"I had the back door key." He reminded her casually. "Anyway, aren't you a little young to be in here? Even if it is closed?"

"Aren't you?" She shot back. The young Colin gave her a cheeky smile.

"Why do you want to know?" He asked, adding some coke to the Vodka and taking a sip.

"Well if you ARE going to steal the stock, at least get me one too." She said returning the gesture. Colin poured her a drink too and handed it to her.

"Well, I guess if we're going to drink together I should introduce myself." He chuckled extending a hand. "I'm Colin."

"Yvonne." She responded, offering her hand. Colin took it in his hand and gently kissed it.

"I always thought that was a smooth move." The older Colin said, smiling at the memory.

"Actually back then I thought you were a bit of a plonker." The guide Yvonne informed him with a laugh. "I couldn't believe anyone thought a move like that world work."

At that, Jack MacArthur entered the club through the front door. Yvonne quickly handed Colin the glass and feigned innocence.

"Not trying to corrupt my daughter with drink now are you Colin?" He asked noting the two drinks.

"Uh, no Jack. I knew you'd be coming soon so I made you one." The young Colin replied, offering the glass. He saw Yvonne mouthing the words 'thank you'

"Scotch is my drink." Jack said, joining him behind the bar. "Anyway pet, I see you've met my rider."

"You're the one Dad's been raving about?" Yvonne inquired, now realising who Colin was.

"That's me, the undefeated Street Racing legend." He announced with a confidence verging on cockiness.

"Dad told me you lost the race last month." She reminded him.

"I don't count that one." He told her.

"Why not?" She quizzed him.

"Because there was a police sting at the finish line." Colin responded. "I was the only one who didn't get arrested, and all things considered I'd rather be sitting at home with a drink than on remand at the Sherriff Court."

Yvonne tired at the conversation and returned to her books.

"Sorry, my daughter can be a little smart for her own good." Jack said as he approached with a scotch in his hand. "Anyway, got you in another high stakes effort tomorrow night. Be at the Tall ships at 6PM."

"The Broomielaw run again?" Colin chuckled. "You'd think they'd have learned by now that I'm unbeatable on that course."

Finishing his drink, Colin made his way over to the table where Yvonne was finishing up her maths homework. "You've got question three wrong." He told her. "You forgot to carry the one."

Checking her working she realised that he was right.

"Smart arse." She grumbled under her breath.

Colin cast a little glance over his shoulder to make sure Jack wasn't watching, and then he quickly scribbled down his cell phone number and placed it on her exercise book. "If you want to find out how smart, give me a call."

"Well my move couldn't have been that bad, you did use that number." The older Colin said as they moved on, leaving the club behind.

"Almost a fortnight later!" She reminded him. "I'd just dumped my boyfriend and knew going out with you would piss him off."

Charisma stirred awake, realising that it was late. Looking around the dark kitchen in Dr. Oliver's house, she realised it was now after midnight. She still hadn't heard anything, and she was certain that Kira, Hayley and Tommy still wouldn't allow her into the guest room to check on Colin. She grabbed her hair in frustration as she cursed how helpless she felt. She just wished she could talk to him, try to encourage him back to them. She wished she could hear his voice, even if it was only in her head.

In her head! Of course! She couldn't believe she'd never thought about it until now. The Soulfire Crystal allowed them to communicate with each other telepathically. She didn't need to get into Colin's room; she could talk to him from here. Clearing her mind, she concentrated on Colin, hoping to bring him back.

Scott and Dippy dispatched the last of the shades with relative ease. Coming back together, they hugged each other as they tried to catch their breath.

"Well that feels a bit better." Scott said.

"A short-lived situation I assure you." A daemon called out from the opposite side of the street. It's massive head was bald, save for a top-knot which came up from it's crown before falling down it's back as far as it's waist. It's face housed only a single eye in the centre of it's head, and a large, lipless mouth with flat, crooked teeth. It stood almost eight feet tall and was massively muscled. It's skin was a dark brown and contrasted with the bright red toga it wore. In it's massive hands, it wielded a huge, double handed war hammer forged from a glittering silver metal, and engraved with arcane runes of an unknown origin.

"Could Darksoul not wait until another day?" Dippy asked.

"We'll take this guy down for Colin's sake." Scott snarled. "Ready?"

"Fire of the soul IGNITE!" They shouted together.

Colin and Yvonne arrived at their next destination. Colin watched as his younger self approached a bin inside Central Station. Checking to make sure he wasn't being watched, he reached inside, finding a letter taped to the underside of the top of the bin just as Yvonne had arranged.

"I take it you remember this." The guide Yvonne quizzed him.

"Of course I do." He answered. "It was the day I proposed."

"By letter." She commented.

"Do remember your dad wasn't letting us see each other by then." Colin reminded her.

The younger Colin took out the letter, and sat down on a bench, pulling out a note pad. Colin read the message remembering the day.

'boilgglyungeohossahaotvysttvocevtmwetoaoaiefollntdloniwninlrinae'

Forming the perfect square, and reading the message, writing it out properly, he smiled as he read it.

'Bus station at midnight, we'll leave for good tonight Colin. Love always, Yvonne.'

He pulled out a brown paper bag, and opened it, making sure that the box was still there. Opening it to look at the ring one last time, he got to work forming his own coded message in response.

Iinttattlwngociohoagynotnavsooiuwilepnugleglclgthdahooaihtnrtflnvibtiwminisuwtiyn

Finishing his note, he placed it in the bag and taped both to the underside of the top of the bin before leaving. A short time later, the younger Yvonne arrived, and dislodged the package, looking at it in confusion as she had been expecting only an envelope. Pulling out the box, she let out a little yelp of excitement as she saw the ring and hurriedly jammed it onto her finger. She then got out her pad and a pen and began de-coding the message.

'I was planning on giving you this tonight but couldn't wait. Wear it tonight. With all of my love, Colin.'

She smiled as she finished the note, before throwing it away, lest the uncoded version was found by her dad or her brother. However, as she left, she forgot to remove her ring.

"I can't believe I forgot the ring." The guide Yvonne said as they carried on. "That's how I got caught. That's how Callum figured it out. I knew he was coming for you and I tried to warn you, but your phone was off."

"I had already started the race." Colin recalled.

"Colin!" A familiar voice called out from seemingly nowhere.

"That voice, I know that voice." Colin stated, looking around. "Why can't I see them?"

"We're here." Yvonne informed him as they arrived at the final destination. As the younger Colin accepted the bag of money from the bookmaker, he saw Callum approaching quickly. His fist blurred into Colin's face without warning.

"You back-stabbing son of a bitch!" Callum roared. "We gave you everything and this is how you repay us?"

"I'm not messing around Callum." Colin said, pulling himself onto his knees. "We love each other. If Jack would just let us be together we'd never have had to do things like this."

Callum kicked him hard in the ribs, winding him and causing him to curl into a foetal ball. Colin covered up as much as he could as Callum kept hammering on him brutally. "She's got a chance to make something of herself. She could get out of here. She doesn't deserve to be dragged down by the likes of you!"

"Don't I get a say in this?" Yvonne wailed, arriving in the street a short time later.

"Dave, keep her out of this!" Callum shouted to one of his friend. He grabbed her, holding her back as Callum rounded on Colin once more. "If you won't stay away from her by choice, then I guess I'll have to make you." He snarled as he reached into his jacket, pulling out a long, sharp bowie knife.

Yvonne kicked the man holding her in the shins hard, making him let her go, and ran toward her brother.

"Callum, please don..." Her words were cut off as the sharp steel penetrated her rib cage. Falling to the ground, the younger Colin picked her up, cradling her in his arms as he wept. The older Colin began to shed a few tears.

"It didn't hurt for long." Yvonne told him as the scene disappeared. "It won't for you either."

"But what about the others?" He asked. "What about Darksoul?"

"I saw everything." She told him, pulling him closer. "I'm so proud of everything you did, but you know that your fragment of the Crystal will be released when you cross over. They can find someone else. Please, just come back to me."

"Colin, please listen to me, come back. We need you here." Charisma's voice reverberated around his skull.

"Charisma?" He asked. "Where are you? Why can't I see you?"

"I don't know what you're on about, I'm communicating with you telepathically, we've done it before. You know I'm not there." She thought. "What's going on?"

"I'm sorry." He replied. "I'm not sure I'm coming back."

Scott was sent flying through the air as the Cyclops daemon's war hammer collided solidly with his chest. Dippy tried to catch him, but her strength was insufficient to stop his flight as they both collided with a nearby car.

"This guy's seriously getting on my nerves!" Scot growled as he regained his feet.

"Ancient Armour Mode!" They chorused together, powering up. Serendipity powered up her razor fans, sending forth a couple of energy blasts which the creature batted aside with his war hammer.

"Such enthusiasm ought to be rewarded." The creature snarled. "You look like you'd like a drink; feel free to get a little hammered!" He launched his hammer at Dippy, sending her to the concrete as sparks flew, knocking her out of her armoured mode.

"Never touch my girl again!" Scott yelled as he powered his naginata up to full power and sliced through him, obliterating him. He ran over to Dippy's side and helped her up.

"Your girl?" She quizzed him.

"Um...uh...slip of the tongue." He stammered as he looked at her and hoped he hadn't just ruined the moment they'd had together before the daemon's arrival.

"The kind I could get to like." She commented. Scott felt his heart lift a little as he realised she had taken the remark as a compliment. Suddenly, the Cyclops revived and grew to massive size.

"I think we might need some help." Dippy told him.

"I think we might." Scott replied.

Serendipity's voice assailed Charisma's thoughts aggressively.

'Scott and I are fighting a daemon on the old Strip!' She thought, with a little panic. 'Please come quick!'

Charisma never even thought about leaving. What Colin had said last had really worried her that he might be ready to give up and slip away.

"We need you here now!" Colin heard her voice in a commanding yell. "Dippy and Scott are in trouble!"

"You can find someone else." He responded.

"Don't you dare give up!" She screamed. Colin could almost see her face as she screamed at him. "We need YOU and we need you NOW! I don't care about the goddam white lights or angels or any of that crap! Get your ass back here now!"

"Yvonne, I'm sorry, but she's right." Colin told her, turning back to his guide on his journey. "It's not my time. I need to go back."

"It's not fair." She sobbed as she began to cry. "I know you're right, but I don't want to lose you again."

"You never lost me." Colin breathed, moving closer and wiping away her tears. "I love you Yvonne, I always will, but I'm needed here."

"It's more than that." She replied. "I've seen into your heart. I know you love her."

"Not more than you." He told her. "It's...different. After you I never thought I'd love again but she isn't a replacement for you, she doesn't even know I exist. More than that, she could never replace you. You'll always have a special place in my heart. That will never change."

"I know that." She breathed, stroking his face gently. "She's a good woman. She could make you happy; I never wanted you to mourn me forever. I just thought I'd make it easier for you if you were coming now. I want you to find someone else to make you happy, and she will."

"That's never going to happen, but thank you Yvonne. It means a lot to me that you're alright with me going back." He leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek gently. "Goodbye Yvonne."

He ran away from her, entering a brilliant, white light. "I'm coming back Charisma!" He yelled. "I'm coming back!"

"Goodbye Colin." She whimpered watching him go. She gave a small smile as she watched him go, sweeping away another tear. "And you're still a plonker."

Kira and Hayley stirred out of their sleep as Colin gasped loudly and rose quickly from the bed.

"Colin are youummmmmmm!" Kira's question was interrupted as Colin seized the back of her head and kissed her deeply. Hayley's jaw almost hit the floor and both she and Kira stared at him wide-eyed in shock as he released her.

"Mrs. Oliver!" He yelped. "I'm sorry I don't know..."

"Colin!" Charisma yelled as she arrived at the door. In the dim light, all that could be seen clearly was her blonde streaks, her pale skin and the whites of her eyes. "We're needed, let's morph and go!"

"Uh...Right...Coming." Colin mumbled, pulling himself out of the bed and running for the door.

"Let me take..."

"I've still got a good seven or eight pints." Colin yelled back as he barrelled out of the room. "You can take a sample when I get back. Fire of the soul IGNITE!"

"OK, that's going to be an awkward conversation later." Kira stammered, flicking a thumb in the direction of the door. "I didn't know he had a crush on..."

"He looked as embarrassed as you." Hayley replied with a chuckle. "I don't think it's you he has a crush on."

"But why...?"

"The lights are low and he was probably still a bit delirious." She stated matter-of-factly. "Who do you think you might look a bit like under those conditions?"

"You mean...?"

"As easy to spot as you and Tommy." She interrupted.

"God! We were never like that were we?" Kira pleaded.

"Trust me." Hayley replied. "You have no idea."

"Sometimes I wonder how we stay friends." Kira grumbled.

"Spear attack!" Scott screamed as he launched the Dragon Zord forward in it's warrior mode. The daemon smashed aside the attack before sending the Zord tumbling backwards to the concrete.

"Get away from him!" Dippy yelled as a barrage of missiles launched from the Condor Zord, slamming into the monster. It fired an energy beam from it's eye scoring a telling hit across it's left wing.

"That last hit screwed up the controls!" She shrieked.

"Anyone ask for a snake in the grass?" Colin asked as the Serpent Zord came into view. The Puma Zord's warrior mode arrived a short way behind it.

"Colin!" Scott bellowed seeing them. "I don't know how the poison never found your heart; it must be as big as an ocean liner!"

"Listen can we save the emotional reunion till after we dispose of this guy?" Charisma asked, the impatience obvious in her voice.

"Ancient Inca Zord!" They all bellowed, pulling all four Zords together.

"You think that thing scares me?" The daemon mocked them as it advanced.

"Moths aren't scared of flames." Colin remarked. "You do the maths."

The daemon surged forward, slamming it's hammer into the Zords chest plate to no effect.

"This is pathetic." Dippy commented. "With these power levels he can't even dent us."

"Call it a day?" Scott queried as he slumped back in his chair and cradled the back of his head with his hands.

"You Know it!" Charisma answered.

"Annihilation Blast!" They yelled together, as the Zord powered up it's ultimate weapon, obliterating the creature.

"You guys feel like partying or something?" Colin asked, the adrenaline pumping through him as he watched the creature explode. "I really want..."

"We didn't all spend half the day in bed!" Scott complained.

"We have school tomorrow." Dippy reminded him.

"I really just need some sleep." Charisma stated. "Besides, your uncle thinks you're sleeping over at Dippy's and no doubt Hayley will want a blood sample."

"I guess I'll take a rain check." He grumbled.

Back at the house, Colin and Charisma sat awaiting the result of Hayley's analysis of the blood sample. The others had finally gone home, at last able to sleep.

"What's the news?" Colin asked.

"No trace of poison." Hayley answered. "It seems you managed to burn it out of your system."

"I knew it. I feel great!" Colin replied.

"What made you come back?" Charisma asked. "It seemed like you..." She looked over at Hayley, Kira and Tommy and figured they'd give her a hard time if they realised she'd contacted him while he was under. She wanted to talk to him about what was happening to him while he was under the effects of the poison. She couldn't help but feel like he was talking to someone else when he was there, and she wanted to know why he was so confused at her presence. "You seemed like you were on the way out."

Colin looked at her face and into those dark, inviting eyes he had grown to love and his heart sank as again he told himself she would never feel the same way. "It's like you guys always say. I'm so stubborn I never take the hint it's time to go." He lied, not sure why but thinking that Charisma would freak out if he mentioned the conversation he had with Yvonne.

"Oh, right." Charisma answered as casually as she could while allowing her hair to cover her face as it flushed a little. Kira and Hayley looked at each other and stifled a little chuckle.

'Hayley was bang on the money as usual.' Kira thought to herself. 'Teenagers!'


	16. The Funeral

It was a few days later that the coroner finally released Barry to the funeral home and arrangements could be made. Kira had overseen the arrangements and knew that the turnout was going to be quite low. It didn't seem fair, he was at heart a good man, and yet because of Darksoul's actions, the rest of the world had written him off as a lunatic who murdered three people and then been killed under mysterious circumstances himself. It was like a needle to the heart each time one of his friends, and even several members of his own family RSVP'd no, but there was nothing she could do about it. She couldn't even explain what had happened so that they would realise Barry was not responsible for his actions. That was what hurt the most. She couldn't even clear his name. Kira was just finishing getting dressed as Tommy arrived behind her and gently wrapped his arms around her.

"How are you holding up?" He asked, gently kissing her cheek.

"It still doesn't seem real." She answered him. "I still can't believe he's really gone. He was always there for me, right from the start."

"He really was a good friend." Tommy told her. "I had my reservations about him at first, but he told me early on that he'd always protect you from the nasty side of the business. I could see how sincere he was."

"I just really wish so many people hadn't turned their backs on him." She sighed. "I can understand why they reacted the way they did, but I just wish we could explain."

"I know you do." Tommy replied, pulling her closer. "But we both know, even if they did believe us, there's no way we could explain without revealing ourselves and exposing the kids and you know what that would do."

"I know." Kira told him. "That doesn't make it fair, and it doesn't make me feel any better about burying one of my best friends."

Tommy kissed her softly, before heading back downstairs to where Adam, Chrissy and the Rangers were assembled. The Rangers hadn't really known Barry, he had already been possessed by the time they'd met him, and he had spent a couple of months fighting them at every venture, but they were there to support Kira and Tommy. Tommy noticed that for the last few days, Colin had seemed a little uncomfortable around himself and Kira, but this wasn't the time for him to press the matter. No, today he was there for his wife.

"How is she?" Adam asked, handing Tommy a mug of hot coffee.

"She's coping as well as can be expected." Tommy answered him. "I'm glad Zack could fit Barry into his schedule."

"He understands what this life's like." Adam responded. "It's a shame we couldn't get him buried at a synagogue, but at least we know that Zack will make sure he gets the dignified burial he deserves."

"I only met him a couple of times, but he seemed like a decent person." Chrissy chimed in, coming over to Adam's side. "Adam explained how he died, it must have been horrible for you being there."

As Dippy came down the stairs from the nursery, she cast a little glance in Scott's direction. Nothing much else had happened between them since the night they'd kissed, at the moment they were trying to keep things under the radar. As soon as he'd realised that he'd be mentoring teenagers again, Tommy had insisted on gathering them in his living room and giving the three of the original Rangers a huge lecture about why they shouldn't date team members. Since Colin was the only guy on the team back then, and she'd never really had any romantic feelings for him, she just sort of nodded and smiled her way through the speech. Anything for a quiet life, but that was before she started spending time with Scott.

The two had just seemed to connect with each other. She had initially been drawn to him because she could identify with the problems he had because of the damage to his hand. While not exactly the same, her arthritis had on occasion made the use of her hands quite painful, and occasionally affected her grip. However, the two had begun to identify with each other on many other levels. Both of them had to give up on certain dreams because of their respective conditions. Both of them had spent long periods of time as either the object of pity or the object of scorn as a result of their conditions, and both of them had spent a long time on their own as a result. They truly had found kindred spirits in each other. Scott gave her a small smile as he saw her coming down the stairs.

"How are the twins?" Tommy asked her. Dippy was suddenly brought back to her senses.

"I've fed and changed them." She told him. "They're both sleeping soundly."

"Thanks again for agreeing to watch them." Tommy said gratefully. "It frees Kira up to go to the funeral."

"Well I didn't really know Barry, so it makes sense." She answered.

"Well, I'll pay you the usual…"

"Please, today's on the house." She interrupted him. "You just take care of Mrs. Oliver."

As she said this, Kira arrived in the room. Tommy became a little curious as Colin promptly fled the room into the kitchen. He almost bowled Scott over as he made his way out of the room. What was his problem? With a shrug he decided it was a mystery for another time.

"We're here for you Kira." Adam told her as he gave her a warm, comforting hug.

"Thanks guys." She replied. "It means a lot to me that we're doing this."

"It's the least we could do for him." Tommy responded.

Tommy lead the assembled party out of the house to the cars out the front, leaving Dippy in the house with the kids. As she watched them go, Dippy could hardly wait until Scott returned. After all, after the funeral it was unlikely Dr. O or Kira would feel like company. At last they would have a bit of time to themselves.

Colin had waited until Tommy and Kira had already got into their car so he could make sure he took the other one. It had now been a few days since the embarrassing incident in Dr. O's guest bedroom. He knew he was still suffering the last of the effects of the poison, and with the lights so low he hadn't really made out until it was too late that it was Kira who was leaning over the bed. He had, since then done everything he could to avoid her and Dr. O, but he was fast running out of excuses. He knew that there would be a very uncomfortable conversation with Mrs Oliver at some time or another when she finally cornered him. He didn't know what would be worse, if she figured out that he was just confused and hadn't intended to kiss HER, then he knew he could expect to hear Dr. O's lecture about it being unwise to date team members again. On the other hand, if she did think he was trying to make a move on her, then that wouldn't exactly be a conversation he would look forward to either. He held his head in his hands thoroughly defeated. 'Let's face it.' He thought to himself. 'Either way you're screwed!'

"Is everything alright?" Chrissy asked, noting the way Colin was acting in the rear view mirror.

"I'm fine." Colin lied. "I just really hate funerals."

"Well you're going for Kira's sake." Adam reminded him. "If Darksoul does try something, then it's best if you're all there."

Colin nodded wordlessly as he sank back into his seat. For once he was almost hoping Darksoul would make an appearance.

In the other car, Tommy finally approached the question on his mind as they made their way to Zack's church on the outskirts of the city.

"Do you know what's happening with Colin?" He asked. "He's been acting weird for days. He couldn't get out of the room fast enough this morning."

Charisma leaned forward a little on the back seat, pretending not to care, but listening in on the conversation. She too had noticed the change in Colin's behaviour.

"He kissed me." Kira whispered, hoping to spare Colin the embarrassment of his friends finding out. Kira looked at the expression on Tommy's face as she spoke. "It wasn't anything serious."

"So what exactly was it?" Tommy asked, a slightly bemused look crossing his face. How could it not be serious? What did she mean by that?

Charisma however, almost fell backwards into her seat as she heard what Kira said. He'd kissed her? What the hell was he thinking? She was attractive, Charisma could admit that much, but she was a lot older than Colin and more importantly she was married to Dr. O. She felt some anger rise in her chest as she thought about it. Why would he do something so monumentally stupid? Why would he risk throwing the group dynamics they'd built up over all those months away by doing something so unbelievably moronic? She continued to listen intently.

"It was when he was breaking the fever from the other day." Kira explained quietly, again noting Charisma's presence in the back seat and hoping to avoid causing Colin any more embarrassment than was necessary. "He was still a bit delirious and the lights were down low so they wouldn't disturb his sleep. Anyway, when he was coming to, I leaned over the bed to see how he was, and he just kind of grabbed me and, well…"

Charisma tried hard not to groan out loud. 'Yeah, right, delirious I'm so bloody sure!' She thought angrily. 'How exactly does that make anything different? He still kissed her!'

"So you think he did it because of the poison?" Tommy asked, also in a whisper.

"To be honest, I don't even think he meant to be kissing ME." She raised her voice just a little to emphasise the fact. "The way he reacted when he let me go, even Hayley could see he was as embarrassed by the whole thing as I was."

"So you think he mistook you for someone else?" Tommy asked.

'And that makes everything SO much better!' She continued to fume as she crossed her arms in front of herself defiantly. 'All that bloody Scots charm and intellectual garbage he keeps spouting just to cover the fact he's just like the entire hormone crazy male student body!'

"Who?" Tommy asked. Kira looked in the rear view mirror again to check that Charisma didn't appear to be listening. She flicked her eyes in the direction of the back seat, a gesture only Tommy picked up on as Charisma sat in the back seat in a terrible mood.

"Are you sure?" He asked. Kira gave a small nod. "Right. I'll straighten this mess out. I'll talk to him when we get back."

"Do you really think that's such a good idea?" Kira asked him.

"Well we can't let things continue like this." He replied. "We need the team to be able to work with each other, and with us. It's best we clear the air now and let him know neither of us blames him."

"I suppose you're right." Kira whispered back.

"So, who was better?" He asked cheekily.

"I am not the kind of girl to kiss and tell." Kira responded. "But I wouldn't mind if this inspires you to practice a bit more often."

The mood in the front of the car lifted a little as Tommy and Kira found humour in the situation, lifting their spirits just when Kira was at a low ebb. They never even noticed Charisma sitting in the back, her arms folded with a face like thunder.

The assembled group arrived at the graveyard a little while after midday. Zack came out to greet them. Since Barry was not Christian, he had opted to meet them in a simple black suit with his collar as opposed to the ornate robes he quite often wore for funerals.

"Tommy, I really wish we didn't have to get together under these conditions." He greeted his long time friend with a handshake.

"I'm sorry too." Tommy admitted. "But we really appreciate you doing this for us."

"No sweat. Kira, I'm really sorry for your loss." He continued, shaking Kira's hand.

"Where is he?" Kira asked.

"Technically I couldn't bury him on consecrated ground because he wasn't Christian." Zack explained. "But the back plot over there just extends beyond the consecrated area. I found a spot over there for him." He leant in a little closer. "You can actually see the office building for his company from there."

"I'm sure he would have appreciated that." Kira commented.

"Kira Oliver?" A voice asked her. Turning around, she recognised the man as one of Barry's lawyers.

"That's me." She answered. "Look, this isn't a good time. Can I arrange an appointment or something?"

"I'm sorry, but it's my duty to execute the directives of Mr. Goldstein's estate." He told her. "He gave me explicit instructions to hand this directly to you at his funeral." He reached into his satchel, and pulled out a large, brown, padded envelope and handed it to Kira. He then presented her with a form to sign to confirm she had received it.

"Are you staying for the service?" She asked as the lawyer turned to leave.

"I'm afraid not." He answered. "I have other business to take care of."

"More likely he doesn't want to be seen at the funeral of a known murderer." Colin commented to Charisma under his breath. "Bloody ambulance chasers, they're your best friend while they're ripping you off, but the minute you stop earning them money, they can't be seen for dust."

"Uh huh." She replied a little coldly, turning her back to him slightly. Colin noted her odd response. He knew they'd bumped heads on occasion, but generally they were quite friendly to each other. He hoped it was only the funeral making her act this way. He certainly couldn't think of anything he'd done recently to annoy her. He was having a hard enough time just keeping his distance from Dr. O and his wife. The last thing he needed was for Charisma to have a problem with him too.

"Should we begin?" Zack asked as they approached the grave site. Kira nodded for him to carry on. "Close friends. We are all here today…"

"To mourn the passing of an extraordinary man." Darksoul interrupted as he appeared. "The man who allowed my return. The man who will soon be single-handedly responsible for the destruction of this whole accursed world."

"You're a vile, disgusting beast Darksoul!" Kira roared as she observed his entrance. "Could you not even allow us to bury the man with some dignity?"

"Please, things like that may matter to one who has a soul." He answered. "But as you know, I don't. Oh, I see we're one Ranger short today. Well, more fun for the rest of you."

"I take it this is the new Big Bad in town." Zack surmised looking at the creature.

"Good guess." Adam responded as dozens of shades appeared around them in all directions. "Chrissy, take our car and get out of here."

"What about…?"

"The kids are the new Rangers." Tommy interrupted her question. Adam had told Chrissy that he was a Ranger when things started getting serious between them, but he had refused to name any of his team mates out of respect for their privacy. "Kira, Zack and I have all been Rangers before. I'll explain everything later, for now just get back to the house. We could use Dippy's help here."

Chrissy just pulled out her car keys and began running in the direction of the parking lot. The others charged to the attack.

"Man, I never thought I'd have to do this again." Zack remarked as he launched a flying kick at a couple of the creatures.

"Trust me; it's just like riding a bike." Adam told him, dispatching another couple.

"Well it's a little nostalgia trip I could live without." Kira snapped, throwing a shade into a group of it's comrades, before blasting them away with her Ptera scream.

"Domestics must be hell around at your house." Scott commented as he caused a large jolt of electricity to arc from the battery in the remaining car to a group of shades, frying them. "Jeez, give us a bit of warning next time!"

"Could we just wrap this up quickly please?" Charisma grumbled as she ignited her fists. "Got to be said, gate crashing a funeral really qualifies as an all new low for Darksoul."

"Shame you don't like gate crashers." Darksoul's latest daemon bellowed as he arrived on the scene. Around six feet tall, with a slender, almost serpentine body, it moved with an unnatural fluidity. It's head was like that of a crocodile, with a long snout housing thousands of long, sharp, murderous fangs. It's eyes were yellow and as cold as flint, standing in contrast to it's dark green, scaly flesh. "Uninvited guests can be the life of the party."

"I think it's time we left this to the youngsters." Zack remarked, backing away.

"I heard that." Adam retorted as he, Tommy and Kira all backed away towards the church. "Guy, you take it from here."

"Fire of the soul IGNITE!" The three shouted together.

Chrissy arrived back at the house a short while later, having gunned the engine for all it was worth on the way over. Throwing it into the drive way carelessly, she rushed inside finding Dippy preparing a feed for the twins.

"Is the service done already?" She asked.

"Serendipity, they need you at the church." Chrissy rushed out. "I'll take care of the twins, go."

"But…"

"Tommy explained." She told her.

Realising what she meant, Dippy morphed before rushing outside, to where her bike was arriving to her mental commands. Hopping on, she opened up the throttle and blasted down the street. 'I'm coming guys.' She informed them telepathically.

Dippy arrived just as Charisma destroyed the creature with her chain weapon, while the others finished off the last of the shades.

"Sorry guys, I got here as fast as I could." She told them.

"It's ok; I don't think he's done yet." Scott told her as she ran over to them. "The head honcho's still here, and It shouldn't be long before…"

He was interrupted as the daemon was revived and grew in size.

"Oh, like we couldn't have seen that one coming." Colin groaned.

"Stop moaning and let's get on with it." Charisma replied coldly.

"Have I done something to upset you?" Colin asked.

"Look, let's just get this dealt with." She snapped as they summoned the Zords.

"What's Darksoul doing now?" Kira asked as she noticed him performing some form of ritual over Barry's grave.

"This does not look good." Tommy remarked.

As Scott destroyed the daemon with the Dragon Zord's tornado drill attack, the teens were suddenly blasted to the ground as a huge beam of crimson light erupted from the ground where Barry's grave had been and the sky turned dark.

"What the hell just happened?" Colin asked.

"I've erected the bridge with the power of the keystone." Darksoul informed them as he grew. "Now all I need to do is defeat you and reclaim the Soulfire Crystal to open the floodgates and allow my master's legion free access to the earth.

'Guys, get out of there. NOW!' Dr. O's voice sounded in their heads.

'But Dr. O…'

'No buts Charisma!' He interrupted her. 'Withdraw to my house now.'

Without another word, the Rangers sent their Zords away, and fled the battlefield. Darksoul laughed triumphantly as he watched them go.

Back at the house, the Teenagers sat in silence as Dr. O paced the room nervously.

"Darksoul has begun the ritual to open the bridge." He informed them. "Unfortunately this accelerates our timetable further than I would have been comfortable with. I need to know if you're ready. Call forth your crystals."

The four teens presented their shards of the crystal to Tommy, who inspected each one in turn. He gave a small glance over to Kira before he turned back to them. "We'll begin the final battle tomorrow. Adam and I will be coming with you."

"Why Dr. O?" Charisma asked him.

"Since he's erected the bridge, Darksoul's beginning the endgame." He told them. "No doubt he'll throw everything he's got left at you. You could do with the help."

With that, he gestured to the door, and the teens left the room. Making sure he saw them leave the house, he turned back to the others.

"It's worse than I thought." He told them, the worry obvious in his eyes. "One of the crystals has not completely healed."

"Does that mean they can't combine their power?" Kira asked. "Does that mean they can't destroy Darksoul?"

"I was hoping it would never come to this, but Darksoul's gambit has accelerated things." Tommy began. "Because the Crystal is not complete, it will need to get the extra energy from somewhere." He paused with a heavy sigh as he prepared to explain. "Whoever's holding the Crystal when the energy is used will give the Crystal the remaining energy with their own life force."

"You mean…"

"That's right Adam." Tommy interrupted. "Whoever's holding the Crystal at the time will die."

"Don't you think the kids have a right to know one of them is going to lay down their life?" Adam quizzed him a little incredulously.

"It doesn't have to be one of them." Tommy informed him. "When they combine the shards to reunite the Crystal and the energy wave begins to build, someone else can take the crystal." He took Kira's hand and looked into her eyes. She had already started to cry, already guessing where this was leading. "That's why I'm going."

"Tommy no!" She sobbed as he held her close. "I can't lose you. I need you. The kids need you."

"Tommy, I've got less to lose." Adam stated. "Chrissy, I really want to stay here with you, but you know I'm right. I don't have the same responsibilities as Tommy."

"I couldn't ask you to do that, any more than I could ask one of the kids to make that sacrifice." Tommy put down bluntly. "I really want to see Frank and Emma grow up, but if Darksoul wins then we're all finished anyway."

"Chrissy and I will take the kids tonight." Adam said, the sorrow in his voice evident as he began to shed a few tears. "I guess the two of you would like to be alone."

"Thanks Adam, I appreciate that." Tommy replied. Kira held Tommy in her arms as they left.

"Kira, I want you to promise me something." He said to her. "I want you to promise that you'll find someone else. Don't live the rest of your life alone."

"Tommy, I really can't talk about this now." She sobbed gently. Summoning up her last reserves of inner strength, she swept the tears from her eyes and looked deeply into his. "If I can't talk you out of this, if this really is going to be our last night together, then please don't make me talk about it."

With that, they made their way up to the bedroom to spend the night together. One last time.


	17. Endgame

The following day, a state of emergency had been called by the LVPD, and people were advised to stay in their homes. Panic had been raised when the sky went dark in the middle of the afternoon without explanation, leaving the large column of crimson light, marking the location of the bridge as the only light left in the whole sky, eclipsing the moon and all of the stars. The local police had discouraged people from wandering the streets to avert an outright riot. The freeways and the airports out of the city had been closed to prevent a disorganised evacuation causing chaos and resulting in serious injuries or deaths. The hospitals had already been over run with injured citizens who had unwisely tried to flee the city without due care and attention.

It was not easy for the kids to slip away from their respective families. Scott and Dippy had to lie and say they were barricading themselves in their rooms before they slipped out to head round to Dr. O's place. Charisma really wasn't concerned what her dad thought and had just run out of the house. She knew he'd expect her to be reckless enough to do something like that and reasoned that was all the explanation he'd need to explain her absence. Colin on the other hand took full advantage of his uncle's "The show must go on" attitude. He had scheduled a performance of West Side Story for tonight, and even though only a dozen or so patrons had actually braved the streets to come to the theatre, Colin knew it would be hours before he'd be missed and just teleported out when no one was watching him.

They arrived at Tommy's house to find him nervously pacing the room, while Adam stood in the corner drumming his fingers on the top of the television as they waited. Turning to the door, they seemed to relax a little as the team arrived.

"OK guys, I hope you're ready for this." Tommy stated. "I'd rather have waited and handled this differently, but Darksoul's forced us to put all our eggs in one basket. One way or another, this all finishes tonight."

"So we're taking the fight to him?" Charisma asked.

"That's exactly the plan." Tommy informed them. "You guys have access to the Zords, so if anything big comes are way, we'll need you to deal with that. The two of us…"

"Three." Kira interrupted as she entered the room. Tommy could see the Dino Gem bracelet on her wrist. "Chrissy agreed to look after the twins. I'm coming with you."

"Kira, you need to stay with…"

"Damn it Tommy I'm coming with you and that's the end of it!" She interrupted him, her face flashing as she yelled passionately. "You said it yourself, if Darksoul wins we're all finished anyway, so it's really immaterial whether I'm with the kids or not at the time."

"But Kira…"

"So if we're possibly going to be facing the end of the world." She looked at him, trying hard to stop her tears for the sake of keeping the awful truth from the Rangers. "Then I'm going to be where I can make a difference to the outcome, not sitting with the kids waiting on the results."

Tommy looked over to Adam who could only offer a small shrug. "She has a point." He said.

Tommy had to concede that point. Not only was she right that it made sense to have as many of them involved in the battle as they could get, they also both knew it was pointless to argue with Kira once she had made up her mind. As Tommy leaned over and kissed his wife, Adam noted some of the reactions from the Rangers. Colin kind of looked away as though he had a lot on his mind. Charisma crossed her arms a little defensively and looked away with an expression on her face like she'd just been slapped hard, while Dippy and Scott exchanged a little glance and moved a little closer, holding hands in a way that tried to hide the gesture from prying eyes, but he had already noticed it. He suppressed a small chuckle as he noticed that gesture and remembered a time when he was their age and romances regularly bloomed between team members who faced life or death situations on a regular basis. He'd even been involved in a couple himself, and he had to admit feeling his spirits lift a little despite the terrible knowledge of what was going to happen tonight thinking about the two youngsters finally getting to spend some time together properly.

Colin thought about the battle ahead. This really was it. This was the ultimate battle that would determine all of their fates. His hand strayed to his jacket pocket as he glanced at Charisma. He didn't know why, but lately she had grown quite icy towards him. She had barely spoken to him since the funeral the previous day. What could he have done between then and now to make her turn from him like this? Even if he did want more from her than that, at least they were friends.

Charisma turned her face from the scene as Tommy kissed his wife passionately, as a hard, tight knot formed in her chest and she felt her blood burning. She couldn't see Tommy at all. All she could see was Colin kissing Kira. She still couldn't fathom how it could possibly have been seen as a mistake. Kira had outright told her husband that one of his students had grabbed her and forced a kiss on her, yet here he was standing in the same room as him and he hadn't said a word. What was his problem? Did he not even care that Colin had betrayed him? She still couldn't bring herself to forgive him. He hadn't just betrayed Tommy, for his own selfish reasons he'd betrayed the group, how could she forgive that?

Dippy looked at Scott as Dr. O and his wife shared a moment in the living room. She knew that Tommy had warned them against getting involved with team members, but she couldn't help but think about the time She had shared with Scott. Moving closer and taking his hand in her own, shielding the gesture from sight with her body, she thought about what Tommy had said as she enjoyed the warmth of his touch. One way or another the situation with Darksoul would end tonight. Then there would be no reason not to come into the open about how they felt for each other.

Scott could only smile as Dippy approached him and gently took his hand. He knew that Tommy had given the others a huge lecture in the beginning about getting involved with other team mates, but a few revealing conversations had quickly eased his mind on the subject. Tommy couldn't exactly say anything to them about dating team members. Dr. O had dated at least one team mate that he knew about, indeed he'd ended up marrying her! How could he tell them not to be with each other without being a complete hypocrite? Besides, Dr. O had said it himself. One way or another it ended tonight. Soon they wouldn't even be team mates anymore.

"Ahem…Sorry about that…Back to the business at hand." Tommy suddenly brought his attention back to the teenagers. "You four have access to the Zords, so you'll need to deal with anything big that comes our way. The police scanners have been going berserk with reports of shades tearing up the place. No doubt you can expect a legion of them between here and the site of the bridge. We'll help clear the way for you."

"Looks like I really don't get that bike." Scott grumbled.

"No disrespect Dr. O," Charisma began, "but you guys don't have a whole lot of firepower to back you up."

"That's where you're wrong." He replied, exposing his Zeo Morpher. "I always keep something by for a rainy day."

"It's morphing time!"

"Zeo Ranger 5 Red!"

"Dino Thunder Power Up HA!"

With that, the three adults in the room were transformed into their various Ranger outfits, ready for action.

"Well I didn't see that coming!" Dippy remarked.

"Dr. O, someone should really talk to you about the concept of 'full disclosure'." Colin responded.

"We can talk as much as we like when Darksoul's dealt with." Charisma barked with authority. "Ready guys? Fire of the soul IGNITE!"

The seven Rangers left the house, rushing into the street as the first wave of shades arrived from the direction of the Bridge.

"It's been a while." Kira commented. "But if you can take care of my kids, you can handle anything!"

"What can I say, it's amazing how quickly it all comes back to you." Adam replied. "So, who wants to lead us off?"

Tommy turned and placed a hand on Charisma's shoulder, causing her to look at him. "You've been doing a great job up until now." He told her. "I say we let Charisma lead the way."

"You heard the man!" She snarled, calling forth her weapon. "Darksoul's not going to give up, I say we make him!" With that, they charged down the street in the direction of the bridge.

"God, I've never seen this many!" Colin yelled as his Claymore swung in a wide arc, smashing aside several of the creatures with each swipe.

"Try not to think of it in those terms!" Scott shouted as he swung his pole arm weapon in all directions with practised ease. "Just try to think of it as small groups and take them out. The number as a whole will deal with itself!"

"Man this is slow going!" Dippy shouted, dealing with a few of her own opponents with her fans. "Any ideas?"

"The bikes!" Charisma called out. "We each take a pillion, we get to the bridge site and deal with the rest of them there."

"Small problem, there's seven of us." Scott reminded her.

"Just the rest of you see to yourselves." Kira told them. "Super Dino Mode!" Transforming into her powered up state and taking off, Tommy watched her go.

"I always loved it when she did that!" He remarked.

The bikes arrived quickly, stopping by their respective riders. Scott was about to get on the yellow one.

"Does that look purple to you?" Dippy asked.

"You want me to ride pillion?" He protested.

"I didn't think you'd object to having to put your arms around me." She replied with a mischievous giggle. Scott leapt onto the back of the bike enthusiastically.

"I'll take care of any hitch hikers." He remarked, recalling his own weapon and taking Dippy's fans. "You concentrate on the road."

"Need a ride?" Colin asked, skidding to a halt a little way in front of Adam.

"I wouldn't mind." He replied, hopping on the back. "How fast can you get us there?"

"Oh that sounds like a challenge!" Colin replied, opening the throttle and burning his way up the street. Adam said a quiet prayer to himself as he held on.

"Guess that just leaves us." Tommy said, getting on the bike behind Charisma. "Have you been practicing with this thing?"

"Just hold on old timer." She said cheekily as she gunned the engine.

"I'm not old!" Tommy yelled in protest at the slur.

Throwing the bikes at high speed onto the throughway, they blasted down the surprisingly deserted stretch of road, heading towards the column of crimson light that stood as a foreboding beacon, warning those who were not strong of heart to stay away.

"This seems to be going a little too easily." Tommy commented as he pulled out his Zeo Blaster. "There doesn't appear to be many shades on this stretch."

"The throughway doesn't go all the way to the church." Colin shouted out. "I studied a route that will get us there quickly. It means having to go through a housing estate just off the through way. It gets us there quickly, and with minimal collateral damage."

"What kind of damage?" Adam asked.

"It's a gated estate." Colin informed him. "Do you have anything that will punch a hole in a steel fence?"

"I've got an all access pass right here." He replied, sliding his axe blaster into cannon mode.

"Everyone follow Colin's lead." Charisma commanded. "It's your show now; don't screw it up like you screwed up the other night!"

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Colin shouted back as he flipped up the off ramp. The others followed.

"You know what I'm talking about!" She hissed angrily.

"Well, no I don't. Adam, the gate!" Adam fired off a blast, tearing the gate from it's hinges as the bikes sped into the estate. "That's why I said, 'what the hell do you mean by that'?"

"We don't have time for this!" Kira snapped as she soared over Dippy's bike, and dropped her Thundermax Sabre in it's laser mode into Scott's hand. "Take this. As for you two, save the domestics for when you're not in the middle of a battle."

"She started it!" Colin complained.

"I don't care who started it, finish it now!" Tommy roared as he saw some shades appearing on nearby buildings and in nearby streets, heading their way. He dispatched the nearest two with his blaster. "In case you haven't noticed we're in the middle of a fire fight!"

Just keep them off the bikes." Colin called out, pulling a hard right. "It's not much further."

"Jeez, are you sure this is a short cut?" Scott asked as he picked off a few of the creatures. Another leapt onto the front of the bike, but Dippy ducked, allowing Scott to pistol whip it from the vehicle. "It seems kind of a wild ride."

"Trust me, the other way round takes twice as long." He yelled back, taking a sharp left through an unfortunate resident's garden. Roaring through, he smashed his way through the man's fence at the other end of the garden.

"I never thought I'd see the day we'd end up involved in acts of vandalism." Tommy commented. "Over there, the gate at the other side's dead ahead."

"I'm on it." Adam shouted, firing off his Axeblaster again, sending the gates spinning aside.

"The graveyard's just up ahead." Dippy observed, bringing up the rear.

"Anyone want to apologise for doubting me?" Colin asked.

"Just shut up and fight." Charisma groaned loudly.

Darksoul saw the team approaching quickly on the assault bikes. Powering up an energy blast, he fired it, obliterating the bikes, sending the Rangers flying into the graveyard.

"Aw man, the bikes!" Charisma complained loudly.

"They did their job." Tommy reminded her.

"You don't appear to have much of a strategy there." Darksoul sneered as he rounded on them. "Speeding straight into the lion's den so to speak, of course now you're outnumbered and completely surrounded. What ever am I going to do?"

"It's over Darksoul!" Tommy snarled.

"For once we're in complete agreement Dr. Oliver." He replied. With that, he began to grow.

"Guys, leave the shades to us." Kira yelled as she arrived on the scene, ptera grips in her hands.

"The Keystone's in his chest." Tommy informed them. "Concentrate your attacks there. If you destroy the keystone, you'll destroy most of his power."

The teenagers called forth the Zords, surrounding the evil creature.

"Should we assemble them?" Colin asked.

"Not yet." Charisma answered. "I remembered the time he beat us, we had already been in a battle, so our power levels were depleted. Plus, we had formed one Zord, allowing him to focus his attack on one of us."

"So what are you suggesting?" Colin asked.

"I'm suggesting we surround him, and mug him." She replied.

"That sounds good to me." Scott stated.

Dippy lead the attack, catching Darskoul off balance with a barrage of missiles. The creature roared as he fired a column of flame at the Condor Zord, narrowly missing it as she banked out of harms way.

"That's not a flame blast!" Scott yelled in response, firing the Dragon Zord's flame breath weapon, engulfing his face, blinding the evil creature. "Warrior Mode!" He screamed, assuming it's upright formation.

"Set him up, and knock him down." Colin called out, wrapping the serpent Zord around his legs, sending him crashing to the ground. "All yours Charisma."

The puma Zord leapt high into the air, coming crashing down onto Darksoul's chest, puncturing it with razor sharp claws and tearing it open as he screamed in agony. It leapt into the air, pitching backwards into a backflip, landing in it's warrior mode. "Scott, I've opened up his chest plate. See if you can't make the opening a little bigger."

"Tornado Spear Attack!" HE screamed as he launched his Zord's ultimate attack, just as Darksoul struggled to his feet, leaving a wide, gaping opening in his chest through which the keystone could clearly be seen.

"Ancient Inca Zord!" They yelled together, assuming their most powerful formation.

'Overload the main power grid!' They heard Tommy's voice in their heads.

'But that'll destroy the Zords!' Colin responded.

'It's the only way your Annihilation Blast will have enough power to destroy the keystone.' He informed them. 'He doesn't have a human host anymore. If you destroy the keystone most of his remaining power will be exhausted just maintaining his existence. Sacrifice the Zords!'

"I'm not wild about the idea," Dippy began nervously, "but Dr. O's never steered us wrong up until now."

"Then that settles it." Charisma continued. "Overload main power grid."

The Zord began to glow brightly and shudder violently as it protested against the power surging through it.

"Annihilation Blast!" They chorused together. With that, the blast erupted into Darksoul's chest, utterly destroying the keystone. The Rangers lost sight of the evil being as Sparks flew wildly throughout the dying Zord.

"Guys, it's time to go." Charisma yelled, as all four of the teens leapt out of the Zord, just as it exploded devastatingly, destroyed forever.

"Where's Darksoul?" Scott asked. "We still have to destroy him."

"It's gone!" He roared, dragging himself to his feet. "You've destroyed the keystone. My masters work! All those millennia of waiting!"

"Dry your eyes!" Charisma replied sarcastically, knocking aside a few shades with her chain weapon. "Get a hobby like everyone else."

He tried to fade out, but was unable to do so. "I can't shift from my corporeal form!" He shrieked in horror.

"Guys, he's stuck!" Tommy yelled. "He can't leave corporeal form. Without a human host, most of his power is being drained just maintaining his existence. Unify the crystal! Charisma, you have to begin the process."

"Soulfire Crystal, UNIFY!" She bellowed, causing a ring of light to appear around herself and Darksoul. He treid to flee the ring, but was repelled by a brilliant white light. Charisma de-morphed as her fragment of the crystal appeared in her hand and began to glow brightly. Tommy realised that now was the moment to act. Glancing over at Kira one more time, their eyes connecting despite the helmets, he said his wordless goodbye and prepared to sacrifice himself. Surging forward, Colin powered up his claymore and swung it into Tommy's chest with a huge cry, smashing him backwards into a nearby fence and de-morphing him.

De-morphing himself, Colin rushed to Tommy's side, pulling out a cable binder and securely fastened Tommy's arm to the railings before ripping his morpher off his wrist and tossing it into some nearby bushes.

"Colin, what do you think you're doing?" She screamed.

"I'm sorry Dr. O." He apologised. "I got the feeling you weren't telling us everything, so I teleported onto the upstairs landing after you sent us home." He looked at his mentor intently. "I heard everything. I know what you're planning to do. I am not letting you leave your kids without a father."

"Then you know what's going to happen to Charisma if I don't take the crystal from her." He yelled back a little panicked as he saw both Scott and Dippy's fragments flying through the air, into the energy circle and into Charisma's hand.

"Who said I was going to let anything happen to her." Colin replied as he sprinted into the energy ring, just as his own fragment united with the others, re-forming the Soulfire Crystal. Tommy and the others watched as the light ring around them formed a more intense barrier. Colin grabbed the Crystal, causing Charisma to turn and stare at him in disbelief.

"What the hell are you doing?" She asked.

"Give me the Crystal." He demanded, trying to yank it from her grip.

"You want the glory for yourself?" She shrieked a little incredulously. "I can't believe…"

"It's nothing to do with credit." Colin roared. "The Crystal isn't complete."

She looked at the crystal, noting a tiny chink missing from it about half way up it's surface.

"It's a suicide mission!" He yelled. "The only way to provide the remaining power is with a human life force. Whoever's holding that thing when it fires is going to die!"

"Charisma's eyes became watery as he said this. She could just tell he was telling the truth. He wasn't after any credit, he was planning to lay his life down for her. Just like with the arrows. This time, however, he knew his death was a certainty. She felt her heart burn as she thought about this. There was no way she was letting him sacrifice himself for her again.

"Fine, I'll do it!" She snarled, retaining her grip on the Crystal.

"Why are you being so bloody stubborn?" He screamed at her as he attempted to wrest the Crystal from her grip. She turned her back to him, trying to exert more pressure to remove the Crystal from his grip. She momentarily lost concentration, almost losing the struggle as she felt the slightest hint of joy at the warmth of his arms around her body.

"I almost watched you die once!" She shrieked at the top of her lungs, elbowing him as hard as she could in the ribs, winding him and knocking him to the ground. "I can't do that again. I won't!" She turned to him, tears streaming down her face as she looked at him. "I love you!" As she said this, Colin saw the last fragment of the Crystal unite with it's brothers, forming the whole once more. As he saw this, he got up slowly, and backed away.

"Charisma, the crystal!" He breathed. She looked down at the unified Crystal and it was finally clear. The missing piece was inside her. She didn't just need to accept people into her life, she needed to accept them into her heart.

As the two stared at each other, the Crystal flared with energy one last time, sending out a massive energy wave which obliterated Darksoul utterly, leaving only a blood-curdling cry of anguish on the wind, and dust scattered to the gentle evening breeze.

"What happened?" Adam asked, releasing Tommy from the cable binder.

"I guess they figured out how to complete the crystal in time." He said.

Colin and Charisma however, couldn't think about anything, let alone speak. Unaware to the others watching them, they approached each other slowly, Colin placing an arm around her waist and pulling her close.

"What about what happened with Mrs. Oliver?" Charisma asked, suddenly terrified as she realised how vulnerable she'd left herself with the confession he'd just heard.

"Is that what you've been so moody about?" Colin asked her. "Mrs. Oliver was an accident. The lights were really low, and I was still a bit out of it." He looked deep into her eyes. After what she'd just told him, she deserved to hear his confession. "I came back for you. Not the others, I came back because you asked me to. Because it was your voice which guided me back, I thought it was you standing over me. I thought you were the one waiting."

"What are you saying?" She asked.

"Charisma, I love you too." He replied. "I have for months."

She placed her hands gently on the sides of his face and pulled his lips down to hers, the night disappearing into insignificance as they both realised that at last they had found each other.

"We're not going to let them upstage us are we?" Scott asked Dippy cheekily as he pulled her close to him, and they shared a warm embrace.

"Did anyone listen to me at all about dating team members?" Tommy complained as he finally retrieved his morpher.

"Tommy, they're teenagers." Kira joked as she de-morphed and came to his side. "They never listen to anyone."

"Besides." Adam reminded him. "Given your track record, I don't think you can talk to anyone about that subject."

"That's it!" He groaned. "If there's ever another team of teenagers become Power Rangers, I'm moving to Alaska!"

"Tommy, knowing your luck a team would appear there." Adam laughed.

"Sadly, I think your right." He sighed as the seven of them made their way home.

A/N: Not the end yet. There will be a concluding chapter.


	18. The Final Stretch

The team made their way back to the old theatre to celebrate their victory. After Colin managed to sneak back in through the back door, the others arrived just as word reached the patrons of the theatre that the bizarre phenomenon that plunged the neon city into near total darkness in the middle of the afternoon had passed. Watching the final scenes of his Uncle's performance from the deserted upper balcony, the teens took the time to rejoice in the accomplishment of destroying Darksoul once and for all.

"So is there any booze at the after party?" Scott asked.

"Oh yeah!" Charisma laughed as she remembered the first time she had been to one of the theatre's after parties and gotten completely hammered when she confused the fruit punch with orange juice.

"There'll be plenty to drink." Colin reassured him. "As long as we don't get too out of hand, he'll have no problem with us joining the rest of the crew."

The night wore on as the teenagers talked and joked about their adventures. It somehow didn't seem real that they would no longer have to rush off at a moment's notice, or sacrifice their personal lives for the sake of the world.

"So what do we do now?" Colin asked as he looked around, noting the last of the heavily drunk actors leaving the theatre.

"I don't know." Dippy commented. "I guess we do what all normal teenagers do."

"Which is?" Charisma joked, leaning in closely to Colin, resting her head on his shoulder. "I don't think anyone could exactly have called us 'normal'. Even before the whole Ranger thing."

"Well rumour has it that normal teenagers actually get to spend time dating their girlfriends." Scott remarked with a laugh. "Which reminds me. Strictly speaking I haven't asked you out yet, have I?"

"Not yet." Dippy recalled.

"Want to catch a movie tomorrow?" He asked.

"No." She teased him, leaving him a little crestfallen. "We've already agreed to go round to Dr. O's for the celebration dinner tomorrow, remember?"

"Oh, right." He stammered.

"I'm free the next night." She reminded him. "Maybe we can go out then."

"Well I wouldn't mind some time to have a date." Colin mused, looking into Charisma's beautiful face. "I also heard somewhere that normal teenagers get to spend time studying and worrying about graduating."

"I also heard that it's in the rulebook that teenagers get to worry about how they'll afford a formal outfit for the prom." Charisma giggled. "I believe it's a small chapter, somewhere in the back."

"Jeez, I never even thought about the prom." Colin stated. "I guess I better start thinking about who I'm going to ask." Charisma blushed a little as he said this and nudged him in the ribs, forgetting she had elbowed him hard earlier, bruising them.

"Oh god, I'm sorry!" She sscreeched as she noted the pained expression on his face.

"I guess I'm doomed to being the victim of domestic violence." He joked. With that, he pulled her across to his chair and held her tightly. "I guess I can live with that." With that, he kissed her deeply, and they both became oblivious to the presence of the others.

"I think I'm going to need another drink if I have to watch this for the rest of the night." Scott remarked sarcastically. "Dippy, could you get me another drink?"

She concentrated on the case of beer on the stage a short way from where they sat, but found to her confusion that nothing happened.

"Guys, I couldn't lift the beer." She informed them, trying again. "I think I've lost my powers."

Charisma tried to ignite her hands, but just like Dippy found that nothing happened. "I can't use my powers either." She replied.

The mood in the room suddnely changed as they all tried again to use their powerrs to no avail. They didn't feel like laughing anymore.

The following evening, they made their way quietly to Tommy's house. He had told them to come to his house for dinner to de-brief them and to give them a little time to celebrate. He knew more than most the sacrifices they'd had to make during their time as Rangers. As Kira let them in, she could already tell that something was troubling their young charges.

"Dr. O, we tried to use our powers last night." Charisma told him as he entered the room, carrying some home-made lemonade. "Nothing happened."

"Yeah, you told us that you and Mrs. Oliver kept your secondary powers when you lost the Dino Ranger powers." Scott chipped in. "What's the deal?"

"In our case the Dino Gem powers combined with our DNA, fundamentally changing our genetic code. That's why we still have those abilities." He told them sitting down. "Unlike the Dino Gems, the Soulfire Crystal actually resided inside you."

"So what are you saying?" Colin asked.

"My theory is that the power always did reside in the Soulfire Crystal." He explained. "When you sacrificed the Crystal, the powers were destroyed along with it."

"So you mean it really is over." Dippy sighed a little sadly. "We're really back to normal."

"No." Tommy explained. "This experience has changed all of you. Even without your Ranger powers, your lives have changed in ways you would never have been able to imagine. Your lives will never be the same. They'll be better than you could have hoped."

"It's so wierd." Charisma commented. "When I first got these powers, when I first got all these responsibiilities thrust on me, I hated it." She brushed her hair from her face and leant a little closer to him. "I felt like...like I didn't ask for all of this. I felt like I had my life taken away from me, like I couldn't live my life anymore because someone else just woke up and decided 'hey, guess what? You're a super hero, prepare to have your entire life taken up fighting some guy who'll try to kill you at every turn because of these powers you never even asked for'."

"And now?" Tommy asked her, already knowing what she was going to say next.

"Now it's over, I really miss it." She concluded.

"It's just like, how are we ever meant to go back to a normal life now?" Colin asked. "We've seen and done so much in these last few months, and now we have nothing."

"It's a mourning process." Tommy told them. "I've been through this more times than anyone, I know what it feels like. I felt it every single time."

"It just seems really depressing to think we'll never do anything like this again." Scott interjected.

"I've now been a Ranger on and off for the better part of fifteen years." Tommy told them. "In all that time, I've learned two things. Never say never, and nothing is impossible. If fate has it in mind for you, you will be Rangers again."

"So what do we do now?" Colin asked.

"Well the French Onion soup should be ready by now." He remarked. "Personally, I say we eat."

They moved through to the kitchen, taking their seats around the table. As she sat down, Dippy noticed something odd in Kira's purse, sitting on the kitchen counter.

"Mrs. Oliver, what's that envelope?" She asked, pointing to the package barely visible sticking out of the bag.

"That's the package Barry's lawyer gave me at the funeral." She answered, pulling it out. "With everything that's happened recently, I completely forgot about it."

She opened the package, tipping the contents onto the counter. Inside was a car key, an envelope and a DVD with the words 'play me first'. Written on it.

"Give me a second would you?" Kira said, moving through to the living room as the others began their first course. She loaded the DVD into the player and pressed play. She couldn't help but shed a tear as Barry appeared on the screen, sitting in his office.

"Hello Sparky." He began. "Obviously if you're watching this, then I'm no longer in the land of the living. Sucks for me right?" Kira nodded her head as he said this. He had only been dead a couple of weeks, but she already missed him dreadfully. "Anyway, I know you better than you'd like to think, so I know you'll most likely have skipped the reading of my will. Naughty naughty Sparky. Anyway, I just wanted to discuss a bit of business and let you know the short, non-lawyer speak version of what happened. Needless to say, my money's been split among my surviving family, but I did leave you and Tommy a little something."

"I'd prefer having you back." She breathed gently.

"I know Tommy always liked my beamer, so surprise!" He threw his arms open wide as he yelled this with enthusiasm." The car key is in the package. He can pick it up from my lawyer whenever he likes." He moved a little closer to the camera, leaning on is desk as his expression became a little more serious. It was uncharacteristic of him to take anything seriously, so this caught Kira's attention. "As for you Kira." He began. He only ever called her kira when he was talking about something important. "You are by far the most amazing person I've ever met. Ever since I signed you, you have never failed to amaze me. You have come through every challenge put in front of you, which is why I know you'll be able to handle this. Open the envelope."

She opened it, and pulled out the document, almost collapsing as she realised what it was.

"That's the ownership deeds to Goldsteins." He confirmed. "That's right Kira, I'm giving you my company. I know you'll make me proud Kira."

With that, the screen went blank as the message ended. Kira made her way through to the kitchen worldlessly, tears in her eyes as she came back to the table.

"What is it?" Tommy asked her. "What's upset you like this?"

Kira handed Tommy the deed as she sat down. "Barry left it to me in his will." She told him. "He gave me his company. What do I know about producing?"

"He wouldn't have given it to you if he didn't have confidence in you." Tommy reassured her. "You'll be fine."

The assembled party then raised their glasses in a toast to Barry's memory as they enjoyed the rest of their evening.

**THREE MONTHS LATER**

Charisma admired herself in the mirror as she tried on a flowing red off-the-shoulder ball gown for the Prom that evening. She knew she should really be getting ready for the graduation ceremony, but even she had to admit enjoying the difference it made to her usual appearance. Her father knocked the door gently, opening it and coming in. Standing behind her, he couldn't help but admire his daughter as she stood there.

"You look beautiful." He told her.

She turned to him, looking into his face. They still didn't see eye-to-eye on a lot of things, but in the last few months, things had begun to thaw between them a little. The screaming matches were less frequent, and now they actually talked about things instead of just carelessly throwing hurtful words at each other. "Thanks dad." She whispered. "I really apreciate it. I'm sorry for all the things I've said to you. I know I haven't been the easiest person to live with."

"We were all hurting honey." He told her. "I know I didn't deal with things that well either. I may not understand the things you do, or the way you think, but I just want you to know that I'm proud of you."

The two hugged briefly, taking comfort in the beginnings of their reconciliation. "Get ready for the ceremony." He told her. "I'll be waiting."

She arrived at the school, finding Scott and Dippy enjoying a warm hug. She came over to them with a bright smile on her face, her graduation robe flapping madly around her as she ran.

"Do you two ever let up?" She asked.

"This is a celebration thing." Scott told her. "Dippy made valedictorian!"

"That's amazing, I knew you'd do it!" Charisma shrieked. "Has anyone seen Colin?"

"He's helping with the decorations for the prom." Dippy informed her. "So, what's the plans for after graduation?"

"Colin got himself a bike, and we've decided to take a year or two to travel." She told them with a grin, trying hard to hide her face.

"I thought you lost your powers." Scott commented.

"I have." She said a little confused.

"Well you still seem to be the RED ranger!" He laughed, pointing out her blushes. Charisma drove a fist into his chest playfully as she laughed back.

"Hey guys." Tommy greeted them from the driver's seat of the beamer. "Aren't you waiting inside?"

"Since you're giving the opening address, we figured we had time to kill." Dippy told him.

"Hey, Dippy, I heard from my colleague at the teacher training college that you've been accepted, congratulations."

"Thanks Dr. O." She replied. "I'm really looking forward to it."

"Please, call me Tommy." He told them. "You've all earned it. Anyway, when you graduate, give me a call. I can always do with good teachers here."

"I will." She responded.

"How about you Scott?" Tommy asked. "Have you decided what you're doing yet?"

"Well, my results came out a little better than expected, so I'm going to College to get some more qualification." He began. "I'm hoping that next year I cna begin training as a grief councellor."

"Scott, I know that if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything." Tommy told him. "Anyway, inside you three, I'll just park the car and then we can get started with the ceremony."

The ceremony seemed to blur past without incident, and the teenagers rushed home to get ready for the Prom. Colin arrived at Charisma's house to pick her up. Kira had leant him the use of the limo for a couple of hours, thinking it was unwise to allow him to use his motorcycle to run Charisma to the prom. He had joked that he couldn't have anyway, since he'd be wearing a kilt outfit and refused to be seen riding side-saddle.

"You must be Colin." Charisma's dad greeted him warmly. "I've heard so much about you."

"All good I hope." He joked, stepping inside.

"Any man my little girl sees fit to date must be a good person." He replied. "I haven't always said so, but I know her judgement's usually pretty good."

"I'm ready." She announced, coming down the stairs. Colin couldn't catch his breath as she came over to him.

"WOW...You look...Amazing!" He finally forced out. She kissed him gently with a small giggle.

"You look quite pretty in that skirt too." She joked. She knew damn fine it was a kilt, and that it was traditional formal wear in Scotland, but she knew it would wind him up.

"Don't start that crap." He chuckled as he presented her with a corsage. "The limo's waiting."

"Have fun." Her father yelled as he watched them go.

The prom was already in full swing when they arrived. They found Scott and Dippy slow-dancing to "Lady in Red" when they got to the party.

"Want a drink?" Colin asked.

"Fruit punch." Charisma told him. "Try it for me first though OK?"

"I'll make sure it isn't spiked." He told her. He made his way over to the refreshments table where Brad, his nose now surgically repaired to his pre-injury state, stood swaying slightly, clearly drunk.

"Good night?" Colin asked sarcastically, noting his state.

"Mind your own business paddy!" He spat aggressively, re-filling his cup with fruit punch. Colin made a mental note that it definately was spiked.

"I already explained this." Colin told him. "But obviously some people never learn. Enjoy the rest of your night."

"You think your better than me, don't you?" He roared, standing as upright as he could in his condition.

"Frankly, Yes!" Colin answered. "You're an idiot, and always will be. Have a nice life Brad."

As he turned to leave, Brad grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him back round before swinging a massive punch. Colin ducked, cuasing Brad to miss him, and instead strike Coach Andrews squarely in the face.

"I think it's time you went home." Tommy commented, grabbing Brad and pointing to the door. Brad stormed out of the gym in a foul mood.

As the evening wore on, the four friends shared fond memories of what was to each of them, a very memorable year. Tommy got onto the stage, taking his position by the microphone.

"It's the speech!" Dippy yelped with excitement. She was about to rush to the stage to get a closer view, but Colin stopped her.

"I would watch from back here if I were you." He said with a knowing wink.

"I'd just like to say that this has been an amazing year." Tommy said with pride as he looked out over the graduating class. "We've all been through some really difficult times, and many challenges lie ahead for each and every one of you. But I want to say that I have faith in all of you. Congratulations."

A round of applause filled the theatre, and many of the students cheered. Tommy looked up to the nets full of balloons hanging above the gym. Grabbing a chord, he prepared to release them.

"Anyway, enjoy the rest of the night." He concluded, pulling the chord. With that, the balloons come down, though the ones above the stage plummeted much more quickly, drenching Dr. O as they burst upon impact.

"I told you." Colin said with a far-from-innocent look on his face.

The following morning, Colin and Charisma stopped outside Dr. O's house, dismounting from the bike and approaching their assembled friends.

"Good luck you two." Kira said, hugging them both. "I know you'll have a great time."

"We plan to." Colin stated. "If we make good time, we should be in New Orleans in time for Mardi Gras."

"Well just remember to check in once in a while." Scott told him.

"We will." Charisma responded.

"Anyway, before you go, there's something I want to give you." Tommy told them.

"What's that?" Colin asked as charisma slowly side-stepped away. Suddenly, Kira, Dippy, Scott and Tommy all pulled water balloons from behind their backs and bombarded Colin with them.

"Payback's a bitch isn't it?" Tommy laughed. "Anyway, seriously. Have a great trip. Let us know when you're back in town."

"You know it Dr. O." Colin said, pulling on his helmet and getting back on the bike. Charisma took her place behind him. "We'll see you guys later."

With that, they blasted down the freeway. Colin took the time to skid to a halt by the sign which read 'You are now leaving fabulous las vegas.'

"It's strange you know." He said, pulling off his helmet and looking back at the neon city. "I never wanted to come here, but now that we're leaving it seems wierd."

"I know what you mean." Charisma told him. "I guess all that's left to do is find new adventures."

"I guess so." Colin answered as he replaced his helmet and gunned the engine, taking them into the unknown.

Fin.

Well there it is. Everything turned out alright for everyone in the end. I always thought it would be an interesting challenge to write my own "series", and I enjoyed seeing how it turned out. Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed, especially the ones who commented on my O/Cs. It's good to know they were well received. On that note, another thanks to SSJ-Jolt for co-creating the character of Scott with me. It's the first time I've ever done a collaberative effort with anyone, and I'm pleased with how it turned out. Anyway, no doubt I'll write something new soon, but please continue to enjoy and comment. If anyone wants to hear more from my O/Cs, feel free to tell me, I take it as a compliment.

Sincerely,

Knightwood


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